Righteousness
by Ceellia-19
Summary: Dante finds himself chained to a bed. Slowly he starts to remember what happened…  DxZ & LxS COMPLETE!
1. What happened yesterday?

**I was tired of writing stories in they- view, so for the change this one is in I- view , hope you like it XD  
-**

**Chapter 1: What happened yesterday?**

_**Some place, somewhere, at some time**_

Dante

I opened and my eyes, but closed them almost immediately, because of a severe light. I blinked a couple of times. Once my eyes were used to the bright light I could see the source; fluorescents on a white ceiling.

I sat up, and studied the room I was in. It was big and empty, except from the metal bed I was lying on, with white walls, a grey concrete floor, no windows and two white doors. One all the way at the back wall, and one on my left hand. A hand that was chained to the bed.

"Fuck, where am I? What the hell happened?" I murmured.

Fragments of memories appeared in my head, images appeared in front of my eyes.  
_Suits….Defoe….A women with blue hair…. A motorcycle…._

Slowly I started to remember everything that happened yesterday.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

I was walking through the familiar streets of Venice, just on my way home to my two brothers; the twenty-one year old Michael, who was four years younger than me, and the eighteen year old Lok.

Suddenly I heard someone scream. "Heeelp me, please!"  
Of course I rushed towards the screaming unhesitatingly. It had come from the abandoned shoe factory, and I ran towards it, but when I got there I didn't see anybody.  
Too late I realized it was a trap.

"Well, well, seems like you've fallen into my trap Mr. Vale."  
I quickly turned around and looked into the smiling face of my arch- enemy Defoe.  
"I can always count on your major weakness: playing the hero."

_How could I've been so stupid?_ I wanted to slam myself for the head but that wasn't going to make things better.

"Skip the nonsense Defoe… what do you want from me?" I said angrily.

"Well there's someone who really wants to meet you, and of course Í want the same as always; revenge. But this time I've came well- prepared. I won't lose again." He pointed at the suits behind him, with his right arm, which was a robot- like prosthesis.  
It was thanks to me he lost his arm, and I think he had never forgiven me that. It was quite understandable.

I counted the suits. Twenty- five, twenty- six, twenty-seven…  
_Dammit. _

Defoe saw I started to worry, no matter how much I tried to hide that. It made him smile even more.  
"Suits, attack!"

XxXxXxXxXxXx

**-  
First chap is quite short but I hope you liked it, let me know so I know whether I shall continue or not… ^^**

**(But its's probably going to take me some time to update since I actually have to focus on my other story which isn't finished at all XD)**

**So… do you already know who has kidnapped Dante?**


	2. Twice on one day

**Chapter 2: Twice on one day**

_**Still somewhere, at some place, at some time**_

Dante_****_

XxXxXxXxXxXx

(…)

"Raypulse!" Several suits yelled, and I quickly jumped behind a stone pillar to avoid the attacks. Parts of stone flew through the air where the spells hit the pillar.  
I knew I couldn't stay here forever, and I didn't want to either. I wasn't a coward. If I was going to perish, it would be fighting.  
"Hyperstride." I whispered, and ran to the left, kicking down two suits."Touchram!" The suit I'd hit flew a few meters through the air, before crushing into the wall.  
"Caliban, show them your strength!" In a blue flash the titan appeared,his sword ready for action.

The suits started to summon titans to. Caliban fought with all his power but even he couldn't handle such a force majeure. A redcap stabbed him down from behind, and in another blue flash he returned to his amulet.  
It realized I was going to lose, but still fired another spell to a suit. But he evaded the attack using Shadowspeed, and hit me with Raypulse. I crushed into a stone pillar, and ducked just in time to evade another spell.

"Is that all you got?" Defoe said, with a vicious smile on his face. The coward was just standing behind his suits, letting them do the dirty work.

Suddenly a wave of glass came over me. All the windows and the glass roof had broken by an invisible force. I looked around and to think up an explanation for all this… _An earthquake or something?_ But then, out of nowhere,a woman jumped in front of me. She had half- long blue hair, and was wearing a tight black outfit. I was surprised, andbefore I could say a word, she grabbed me, and pointed apistol skywards. When she shot some kind of rope with a grapple came out, which it secured itself to the metal frame of the roof.  
"Better luck next time Defoe." She said.  
Defoe's stunned face at that moment was priceless. I smiled, and before I realized what happened, we shot up, towards the roof of the factory.

"Stop them you idiots!" Defoe yelled.  
Spells flew us to ears, when we climbed on the roof.  
I looked at my mysterious rescuer. "Wow that was close, thanks, but who are-"

"We're not save yet." She said.  
I looked down and saw what she meant. The suits had started do surround the factory.

"We can jump to the building next to the factory." I suggested.

She nodded."Hyperstride!" She ran over the small ridge, jumped to the next building, and landed graciously on the roof usingFeatherdrop. I did the same thing.

The suits realized what were doing, and quickly chased us. We ran for our lives, evading the spells they fired at us.  
"This way!" She jumped down on the ground, and ran into a small alley, which lead to a shopping street. That was a good idea, because it was a very busy place. Even the organization couldn't erase that many memories, so they wouldn't use their powers there. But of course they would still chase us.

We immersed in the mess, but suddenly the blue- haired women stood still.  
"What are you doing?" I asked.

"We can't run for them forever, we have to find a way to move faster…. And I think I know how." She said with a smile. She ran on the road, and stood still right in the middle of the traffic. A guy on a motorcycle could barely stop before hitting her.  
"Are you freaking crazy?" He yelled at her.

"Sorry baby, we have to borrow your motorcycle for a minute."

"What the- "

"Simplemind." She whispered, and the guy fainted.

She jumped on the motorcycle, and looked at me. "Are you coming?"

"But you can't just steal his-"

"Hey, I think we need it harder than him!"

I looked over my shoulderand saw the suits approach quickly. She had a point there, and I quickly jumped behind her, although it somehow made me feel a bit humiliated.

"Hold on!" She yelled, and accelerated.  
Far above the speed limit, we shot through the traffic. I think we almost caused an accident at least a hundred times, and I highly doubted whether she had a drivers license. But at least we'd lost the suits.

Or not. I looked over my shoulder and saw we were being followed by three black cars. We had driven out of the city, and now drove over an empty road through the woods. I short; perfect for an attack.  
"Augerfrost!" I yelled, and my spell crushed the windscreen of one of the cars. But the suits in the other cars started firing spells at us to, and the blue haired woman had a hard time trying to evade them.

Although we were driving I don't know how- hard, the cars were coming closer and closer every minute. I had to do something.  
"I have a plan!" I yelled to the woman."Hyperstride!"  
I jumped on top of one of the cars.  
"Darkfog!"  
The three cars were wrapped in thick black smoke, and were forced to stop.  
The woman turned the motorcycle, and drove towards me. I jumped back, and we drove away from the suits.

"Good job Vale, I'm impressed!" She yelled to me.

"You're not doing a bad job either!" I yelled back.

We drove for another 30 minutes, and I just started to wonder where we were going to, when we reached a little expired city. After making sure we weren't being followed any more, she stopped in a narrow alley.

"Where are we? I mean… I'm very grateful you saved me, but I have to go back to my brothers, they're probably wondering where I am."

"Now then they must wait a little longer, I saved you remember? You owe me something, and I need your help… with something."

"What is it then?"

"You'll see, follow me."

She walked towards an old metal door, and opened it with a key. I followed her through a narrow concrete alley, until we reached a very fancy, but a bit empty, living room.

"Wait, is this your house?"

"Hmmm temporarily… Sit down, then I'll make you some tea."

I sat down on the brand new red couch. For some reason I felt a bit… uneasy. Suddenly I realized I didn't even know the name of this woman, while she did have known mine. And there were more things I didn't understand… How she'd known I was in trouble? And why'd she saved me, when we had never even met? Was she a foundation- agent to?

When she came in I decided to ask her these questions.  
"Hey, I just realize… I don't even know your name, and yet, you saved me, why? Have we ever met before?"

She smiled and gave me a cup of tea.  
"My name is Zhalia Moon, and we've never met before. I saved you because I need you for something."

I drank the tea, and put the cup down on the table.  
"You work for the foundation to? I've never heard of you."

"No I don't work for the foundation."

Her words sounded vague and far away. I started to feel a bit dizzy… very dizzy….

"Are you okay?" She asked with a vague smile.

I tried to stand up, but I couldn't, it was like my body didn't worked any more. The whole room was turning, and my head felt heavy.  
"Did... you put something in my tea?" I whispered.

"I'm sorry… but I'm afraid you have to stay here for a while…."  
The rest of her words didn't get through me anymore. I fell aside, and slowly everything turned black…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

I heard a velvet voice in my head.

_I'm sorry  
stay here  
for a while_

I remembered everything; the factory, Defoe, the trap, the woman with blue hair, the motorcycle, the expired city…  
_Dante you're an idiot! You've fallen into a trap twice on one day! _ I thought to myself.  
I felt stupid. Stupid and confused, because I couldn't understand why this woman had kidnapped me. I mean; first she saves me… then she imprisons me? That just didn't make any sense at all!  
I wondered if she worked alone… or maybe for the organization?  
But I rejected that idea immediately. I she was an organization agent, she would've let Defoe capture me.

Suddenly I heard the sound of footsteps coming of a stairway, and the door opened.  
**  
-**  
**Ah who would have thought that… Zhalia kidnapping Dante? XD**

Hope you liked this chap, let me know what you thought of it ^^  



	3. Hungry for revenge

**Chapter 3: Hungry for revenge**

_**Dante's house, Venice**_

Lok

I was sitting on the couch, listening to my brother Michael, who was telling another one of his hard to believe- stories.

"So I think: No way, and I start chasing that guy…"

His mouth was moving but the words didn't get through to me. I started daydreaming about my girlfriend Sophie… today was our 1 year anniversary, and this morning we had a romantic picnic in the park. There, I had given her the beautiful necklace I had bought earlier that day. It was silver with a little hearth of pink diamonds (Actually it was just quartz, I was not that rich). Still, she was really happy with it, she embraced me, and said _'I love you Lok'_ as only she could say that. Of course I told her I loved her to, and we kissed and then-

"Hey Lok, where's Dante?"

"Huh what?"

Michael pulled a hand through his half long, with gel backwards combed blond hair.  
"Dante? Where is he?"

"I don't know." I looked on my watch.  
"He was on a mission, but should have been back twelve hours ago."

"Ah well, then I guess his mission took a little longer. I'll call him on his cellphone"  
Michael took his i- phone out of his pocket.  
"That's strange…. His cellphone's off."

"But that's nothing for Dante!"  
I realized my voice sounded worried. I wás worried, for some reason. Dante was never late and would never put his cellphone off.

Michael saw he'd made me nervous and looked at me with a brotherly glance in his brown eyes.  
"Don't worry little bro." (I hated it when he called me like that). "I'm sure Dante is alright…. We'll call Guggenheim, he probably knows where he is."

_**Zhalia's living room, a few hours earlier**_

Zhalia

I watched how Dante lost consciousness and fell aside on the couch. The soporific in his tea had done its work.  
I actually felt a little bit… guilty about all of his. It's pretty mean, first I help him, then I kidnap him… But I had no choice. The hunger for revenge was too strong to ignore.

I put my arms around Dante's chest, and with a lot of effort I managed to pull him of the couch.  
"God, I really should have thought this out better…" I muttered.  
This guy was pretty heavy, but of course I couldn't leave him here, I had to drag him to the basement before he would wake up.  
_This is so not good for my back…_ The Sweat ran down my forehead while I dragged him step by step of the stairs.

After what seemed like an eternity, I had reached the bed, and with my last strength I lifted him on it.  
_Never again! _I though, and I sat down on the floor to recover my breath.

After a few minutes I stood up, and took a pair of handcuffs out of my pocket. I'd stolen them from a cop once, and for the occasion I'd adapted them a little bit. They were now unbreakable, and the chain was extensible and could well be four meters long. Long enough to reach the bathroom, but not long enough to escape. I secured it to his left hand and the bed.  
_His cellphone and titans! _I had almost forgotten to take them away. I pulled the cellphone out of his right pocket and turned it off. In his other pocket I found a few titans I'd never seen before. I severed them with Sorrowbond and put them in the pocket of my belt.

I looked at Dante, and even thought I didn't know him, I felt another wave of guilt. He had nothing to do with this, and was probably going to be pretty mad at me when he woke up. I would be to if I were him. He would demand an explanation… And I didn't really felt like giving him that explanation…

_"Zhalia stop feeling guilty! If you want to achieve anything in this world you have to be merciless…"  
_The memory of Klaus' voice echoed in my head. And no matter how much I hated him, he was right. I had to be merciless, unshakable, cold- hearted, to succeed. I'd done things like this before, and now I just had to do it again.

_**Zhalia's basement, a few hours later**_

Dante

The door at the end of the room opened, and the blue haired woman came in. She'd changed clothes, and was now wearing a brownish tank- top, tight jeans with a weird brown belt, and blue boots. Now I could take a better look at her, I couldn't help notice she was really beautiful. A perfect figure, caramel- colored skin, almond- shaped brown eyes and a cute little nose.  
I noticed that she was holding a plate with food in her hands, so at least she didn't wanted to let me die of starvation.

"What time is it?" I asked her.

"It's one a.m." She answered with an expressionless face. She put the plate down on the bed.

"You know, when you said you needed my help, I wasn't really expecting this." I said calmly. It would be a useless to get mad and scream at her, although a part of me really wanted to do that.

"Consider it like this: You could have been the prisoner of somebody even worse than me."

I assumed she mend Defoe with that.  
"You're right, but still…is this really necessary? If you need my help you don't have to chain me up, I promise I won't run off or hurt you."

She smiled lightly. "Sorry but if I tell you what I need you for, you'll leave, I'm sure of that."

An unpleasant feeling came over me. _What was this crazy woman planning to do?_

"Dammit stop being so vague, what do you want of me?"_  
_She saw I was losing my patience and bit nervously on her lower lip. I realized screaming at her had been a mistake, but before I could fix it, she turned around and walked away without saying a word.

"Come back!" I yelled, but she didn't return.  
_Dante, you fool…. _I thought to myself, if I'd stayed calm I'd maybe been able to mobilize some more information.  
I sighted deeply and stared at the ceiling, wondering if my brothers had already noticed my disappearance…  
_  
__**Dante's house, at that moment**_****

Lok****

"What are you saying?" Michael asked incredulous to Guggenheim, whose worried face was looking at them from the big tv- screen.

"The mission didn't take longer than expected, and Dante's plane had landed 10 'o clock this morning… I don't know where he is."

"Something bad has happened, I feel it, we have to look for him." I said, a bit panicky.

"Easy Lok, it's in the middle of the night, Dante can take care of himself, he's the foundation's top- agent. He probably just ran into a cute girl, and is he spending the night at her place." Michael said with a smile.

I sighted. "Michael this isn't a joke!"

"I know, I know, I'm dead serious. Look, there is nothing we can do right now, go to sleep, and then we'll go search for him tomorrow."

I hated it when Michael was right. We indeed had a better chance to find him tomorrow.  
"Ok than."

"I'll contact a foundation spy at the police, and ask if any incidents have occurred today. And I'll also ask other foundation agents if they have seen or heard anything of Dante." Guggenheim said.

Michael nodded. "Thanks Guggenheim."

_**Zhalia's house, the next morning**_

Zhalia

I sat behind the dining table with a cup of coffee, staring at the news article I had found in Klaus' desk three weeks ago, the little piece of paper everything had started with. The reason I'd left the organization.  
Hate and anger welled up in me when thought back to that moment. How I had cried, when I realized everything Klaus had said was a lie, how I'd yelled at him, confronting him with the truth, how I had hated him, when I realized that all these years I've been nothing more than one of his experiments.  
I resisted the urge to smash my coffee cup against the wall. Instead of that I stood up, put the article in my pocket, and walked to the kitchen to make Dante some breakfast.

Dante

I heard familiar footsteps on the stairs, which announced that the blue- haired woman was coming down to visit me, probably to bring me breakfast.

"I vaguely remember you've told me your name yesterday, but I've forgotten it." I said, when she walked into the room with a new plate.

"My name is Zhalia. Don't forget it another time."

"I won't." I said with a smile.

She put the plate down on the bed, and bent over me to grab the plate from yesterday. It was then, I saw a little piece of paper stick out of her pocket. Light- fingered I pulled it carefully out of it. Till my great relieve she hadn't noticed anything.

"Zhalia, I understand why you've taken away my titans and cellphone… but would it be possible you let me call my brothers so that I can tell them I'm okay?"

She looked at me with something of apology in her gold- brown eyes. "I'm sorry but I can't risk you telling them where you are."

I sighted. It wasn't that I hadn't expected such an answer, but still. If my brothers found out I was missing, they would probably go do something stupid and dangerous like searching for me at the organization. They would never expect I'd been kidnapped by a mysterious woman, so they would probably never find me and only bring themselves into trouble…

Zhalia had left the room again, and I remembered the little piece of paper I'd hidden in my fist. I didn't exactly know why I had taken it, but maybe it would give me some more information. I unfolded it, and saw it was a news- article. Amazed I started reading it.

** Where is that article about? What has Klaus done? And what is Zhalia planning to do with Dante? Will Lok and Michael find out the truth? You'll find out next chap….**


	4. I shouldn't care

**Chapter 4: I shouldn't care**

_**Zhalia's basement**_

Dante  
**_**  
**HORROR DISCOVERY  
The police gropes in the dark  
**_Rotterdam, 13- 10- 1978, _The nursemaid B. van der Laan  
was taken to the hospital in shock, after she'd discovered  
a bloody double murder in the house of her employers.  
According to the police the victims are Mr. and Mrs. Moon,  
from whom very little is known. They have been killed by  
multiple stab wounds. Their two kids, a boy and a girl  
named Zhalia and Zane, are missing. The police presumes  
that they have been abducted by the same person(s) who  
have killed the parents. Anyone who has seen anything  
what might be related to the drama, is asked to contact  
the Rotterdam police.  
**_**

Ok now I was confused. Was this article about Zhalia? She has been abducted as a kid? But by who? And why? Where's her brother? And why is she carrying this article with her? Has it anything to do with the reason I'm here? Too many questions ran through my mind. I really had no idea what to do with this information… _If I would ask her anything about it, she'll know I've stolen it. But on the other hand she'll find out it's gone anyway, sooner or later, and suspect me._ My own thoughts were giving me a bad headache.  
_  
_I sighted. _God I wish I had never took that article…_. For some reason I felt a bit uncomfortable knowing this, like I'd read her diary or something.  
But a part of me didn't regret it at all, that part of me felt sorry for her, and wanted to know more about her, talk to her, understand her, be with her…  
Now my own thought were starting to make me scared. What was wrong with me?

_**Dante's house**_

Michael

Lok and I were sitting in the living room, waiting for news from Guggenheim. At eleven 'o clock his face finally appeared on the tv- screen again.  
"Hi Michael, Lok, I've got news."

"You know where Dante is?" Lok asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately not, but according to another foundation agent in Venice Defoe and his suits are reported in town yesterday."

I jumped up of the couch. Everybody knew that Defoe and Dante were arch- enemies, and that he had been in town on the same day Dante had disappeared was… alarming. _But it doesn't have to mean anything… _I said to myself.

"Wait, there's more." Guggenheim said. "I've talked to one our spies at the police and asked if any incidents have occurred. He told me that yesterday a snack bar has been robbed, the old shoe factory has been wrecked and several vehicles have been stolen, but that last thing happens almost every day."

"The shoe factory… that's not far from here." I said. I had a bad feeling about this, and looked at my little brother. I saw he was worried to.

"I'm going to call Sophie." He said. "We have to go look for Dante, it can't be a coincidence that Defoe was here."

Guggenheim nodded. "I'm afraid the organization may have abducted Dante, so I'm going to give you two a new mission: Find Dante and bring him back home safely."

_**Zhalia's house, at that moment**_

Zhalia_****_

I sat on the floor, with my back against the wall and looked at the cheap cellphone I had bought for my 'mission' a few days ago. I took a deep breath and dialed his number.  
"Hi Klaus." I said. There was no need to say my name, he had recognized my voice immediately.

_"Zhalia… I already had the feeling you'd call soon."_

"You know what I'm calling for?"

_"About… Defoe has told me you've kidnapped Mr. Vale right under his nose, I must say I'm impressed, but after all, you're trained by me so it's not a big surprise."_

"Skip the nonsense."

_"Ah… not so snappy. We have all the time of the world."_

"Yes we have, I just don't like talking to you. I want this to be over as soon as possible." __

"Then let's get to the point. You know I want to have Mr. Vale to finish my biggest experiment. And I guess you've kidnapped him to trade him, am I right?"

"Yes, and we're going to do it my way."

_"And if I refuse?"_

"Then I'll kill him."

_"You're bluffing… he's just an innocent man. You wouldn't do that, you're not like me, unfortunately."_

"No I'm not like you, fortunately, But I will kill him, I'll do anything to reach my goal. You know that I never give up. And without him, your whole experiment, years of work, will collapse."

_"Fine. I'll call you back within a few ways."_

And he hung up. With trembling hands I put the cellphone back in my pocket. I had been bluffing. I didn't thought I would be able to kill Dante… But Klaus had fallen for it. At least I hoped so.  
Now there was nothing I could do but wait.__

_**Sophie's house**_

Lok

_"_I'm going with you." Sophie said stubborn.

I sighted. I knew she was going to say that.  
"Sooph no, we're going to Prague and infiltrate the organization's headquarter, it's too dangerous for you to come with us."

"It's dangerous for you to! We have a better chance if we're with three. Dante is like a brother to me, I want to help him!"

"But Sophie-"

"I've made my decision. I'm going with you whether you like it or not. Besides, I'm a Casterwell, my spells may be helpful."

I sighted again, but this time for another reason. She was right, her spells would be very useful… but still I couldn't risk that something bad would happen to her, I would never forgive myself…

_"_Ok that's settled, she's going with us." Michael said.

I gave him an indignant glance. "Nothing's settled!"

"Yes it is. Now Dante's missing I'm the team- leader, because I'm the oldest and best seeker. And I decide that we need Sophie's help."

I just wanted to make a sarcastic comment on that when LeBlanche came in.

"Miss Sophie, I've heard about what happened, you want me to book tickets to Prague?"

"Yes LeBlanche, book three tickets for the next flight. We want to leave as soon as possible."

"I'll take care of it."

"Thanks LeBlanche."

I saw it was useless to protest. Sophie was going with us no matter what I said. For a moment I cursed myself for having such a stubborn girlfriend._  
_  
_**That evening, Zhalia's house**_

Zhalia

I was in the kitchen making dinner for Dante, when I remembered the article was still in my pocket. I wanted to pull it out but it was gone. The blood curdled in my veins. _It's impossible I've lost it...  
_Dante. How could I've been so stupid? No doubt he'd taken it.  
I started walking circles, trying to make myself calm down. What did it matter? He wouldn't care. I shouldn't care. But I did, for some reason it felt like he'd read my diary or something like that.  
_God now I'm afraid to see my own hostage …. _I thought bitterly. _  
_I cursed Dante Vale from the bottom of my hearth for doing this to me.  
**  
-**_**  
**_**Problems… problems…problems….  
Next chap: More problems**

XD

Let me know what you thought of it ;-)

_**  
**_

__


	5. Alone and diffused in the dark

**Chapter 5:** **Alone and diffused in the dark**

_**Zhalia's house**_

Zhalia_****_

This was ridiculous. Was I really afraid of the opinion of my own hostage?  
No, I refused to be. I had never cared for the opinion of others, and that wasn't going to chance.  
I put my worries away, grabbed Dante's dinner, and walked downstairs.

When I opened the door I saw to my great surprise that he wasn't on the bed any more, he was lying on the floor, doing push- ups.

Dante

I had been here for 24 hours now (or at least I thought so, I had a watch but I didn't knew what time it had been when Zhalia had drugged me) and I was starting to feel a bit lazy. So I decided to do some push- ups.

"What are you doing?"

I startled, and stood up quickly. It was Zhalia, of course. I hadn't heard her footsteps on the stairway.

"Did I scare you?" She asked with a little smile.

I wiped the sweat of my forehead.  
"No of course not…"

She put a new plate of food down on the bed, fold her arms and looked at me with an accusing glance.  
"I believe you got something that belongs to me…"

I took the article out of my pocket.  
"You mean this?"

"Yeah duh what else?"  
She held out her hand but I wasn't planning on giving it back to her so easily.

"I'll give it back to you… if you tell me what happened and what it has to do with me."  
I had said the words with confidence, but deep inside I wasn't feeling confident at all. _I hope I'm not going too far…_

I probably hád gone too far, because Zhalia's cheeks turned a bit red and she looked at me with an unmistakable angry look in her eyes.  
"Are you blackmailing me?" She asked with an icy tone in her voice.

"A little bit."

"Not a little bit! Very much! May I remind you you're my hostage, I don't owe you any explanation… Now give that back to me!" She yelled angrily, and tried to snatch the article out of my hands.

Of course I wasn't going to let this opportunity for information walk past, and I put my hands behind my back so she couldn't reach it. Somewhere I knew it wasn't clever to make her angry, but on that moment I really didn't cared at all.

Suddenly she grabbed my shirt, and pushed me harshly against the wall. She was surprisingly strong for a woman.

"I said give it back to me, or you'll find out I'm not always nice." She whispered with again that icy tone in her voice.

Her a bit panting breath caressed my face, and I looked into her fierce gold- brown eyes, which were so very close to mine. I knew she was raging and probably enable to murder me, but weird enough I wasn't scared at all.  
Swiftly, out of nowhere, and for a reason even I didn't quite understood, I kissed her.

I expected a slap in my face or perhaps something worse than that, but to my great surprise she started kissing me back, and strengthened her grip on my shirt. I slowly caressed her back, and our kiss became more and more passionate. I moved my chained left hand towards her-

Suddenly the lights went off. Startled she let go of me, and stepped back.

"Zhalia…" I didn't knew what I wanted to say to her, what was right to say, all I knew on that moment was that I didn't wanted her to go away.

I heard her breathing somewhere in the room, but because of the intense darkness in the basement without the cold light of the fluorescents, I couldn't see her, which annoyed me very much.  
Suddenly I felt a soft hand taking the article out of my right hand. I saw a glimpse of her face, her eyes, confused and maybe even a bit scared, before she turned around and departed without saying a word, leaving me alone and diffused in the dark.

_**The organization headquarter, Prague, next morning  
**_  
Lok  
_**  
**_T.H. Prof & E. Essor, Lawyers  
The black letters adorned above the glass revolving door of the building across the street. It was plain grey with mirroring windows and really high, about 42 floors. It looked like a normal law firm, but I knew it wasn't.

I took a deep breath and looked to my reflection in the shop window I was standing in front of. I re-attached the tie of my suit, and put on my dark sunglasses. I looked just like an organization suit, but that was the intension.

"You can do this little bro." Michael said with a comforting smile. "This plan can't go wrong, that's just impossible…. because it's mine."

Last night Michael had hacked the organization server. You wouldn't say it when you saw him walk by, but Michael was an amazing computer hacker. He'd hacked the organizations (and other) computers often before and easily cracked the headquarters workforce.  
There we found out that a suit from Finland was just transferred to the headquarter. He would arrive this morning, had never been to Prague before, and was therefore perfect for our mission.  
According to his passport he had short blond hair and blue eyes, so I looked most like him and would be the one who'd take in his place.  
It was generally known that the Organization has several prisons spread out all over the world, but the files about that were so secret even Michael couldn't crack them. So there was no other option than to gather information the old fashioned way.  
The plan was simple: Wait for the Finish guy and eliminate him, steal his staff card, enter the building, find one of DeFoe's suits, ask him subtle where they detain Dante, and then walk calmly out the building again.

"I've got it!"  
Sophie just came walking along, holding a little white card in her hand.

"What have you done with-" Michael took the little card and looked at it. "- Jari Hämäläinen?"

"He'll be unconscious for at least one hour. I've put him in a phone booth under a blanket, so passersby will think he's a hobo or something like that. "

"Great!" He said, and gave the card to me. "It's show time Jari!"

With a pounding hearth I crossed the street, and walked into the small dark alley between the law firm and the building left from it. My footsteps made a pealing sound on the dirty moist street tiles. The alley suddenly made a turn to right, leading to the back side of the building. There I saw a shiny metal door, with some sort of an incheck- system next to it. I studied it a few seconds and drew the card through the scanner. A little green lamp went on. I assumed that meant that it was okay to go inside, so I opened the door, stepped inside the dark hallway, and closed it behind me.  
For a second it was completely dark, but then, a couple bright fluorescent went on. I immediately noticed the security camera at the end of the white hall, and realized I had to look like a normal suit. I straightened my back and walked through the hall like I did it every day. When I reached the end of the hall a metal sliding door opened automatically. The hall I entered then was gigantic and very busy, suits were walking everywhere, doors opened, doors closed, phones were ranging, people were talking…

_There are so many suits here… which one's a part of DeFoe's team? _I thought, and I took the paper Michael had given me earlier out of my pocket. It was a list with pictures of all suits who were a part of DeFoe's team, and present in the headquarter today. I tried to bear all the faces, while I walked through the chaos of people. Suddenly I saw four elevators, and in front of the one at the far right a big guy with short brown hair, a round face, and a nose which appeared to be broken at least one time. _'That's one of them!'_

He stepped into the elevator and I quickly went after him. I stepped in just in time, right before the doors closed. The guy pressed on the 39- button, so I pressed the 40, to be sure I'd have enough time to talk with him, but wouldn't have to step out on the same floor as he.

"Hi, I'm Jari." I said with a terrible Finnish accent. "I'm new here, on which department do you work?"  
_I hope he has never met someone from Finland before….  
_  
"Hi, I'm Rick, a member of DeFoe's elite team. Are you that Swedish guy? I've heard you would come today."

"Well… Actually I'm from Finland."  
There was a moment of silence.  
"So...one of DeFoe's huh? You like working for him?"

"Not really… he's crazy man, never satisfied and always complaining… but ah well, we aren't working here for the fun right? I'll do anything he asks me do to, if the big boss keeps paying me as much as he does now." He burst out laughing.

I laughed to. "But he hasn't much to complain now right? I mean, he has finally captured Dante Vale."

Rick frowned. "How do you know about that mission? That's secret."

"Oh I've heard a few things in the cafeteria a few days ago…"

"But you've just arrived."

"I mean… a friend of mine who works here has heard those things, I've heard it from him."

Sweat ran down my spine, but fortunately he seemed content with that explanation.  
"Ugh some people should be more careful with what they say. If the big boss finds out people are talking over their mouths…" He shook his head.

"So.. where are they holding him?" I asked.

He frowned again. "Seems you're not that well informed after all. That bitch was faster." He sniggered. "It was actually pretty funny, you should have seen DeFoe's face."

"I don't understand it."

"I'm actually not allowed to tell you this but… Zhalia Moon, you know, that ex- organization spy, is holding Vale captive. I guess she wants to use him to blackmail the Organization or something like that… I don't know."

"Oh yeah.. I've heard of her." I lied. "What a surprise."

"Not really. I'd already thought she was going to cause trouble someday…"

Suddenly the elevator stopped, we had reached the 39th floor. The doors opened, but Rick remained standing.

"Ehm.. . Isn't this your floor?"

"Yes but I'll guide you to the staff centre. That's where you're going right? The staff centre at the 40th floor? To report yourself?"

"Yeah… I'm going there, but you don't have to come with me, I don't want to waste your time."

"Nonsense, it's no trouble at all." He gave me a slap on my shoulder. "Besides, this building can be real labyrinth, and I don't want you to get lost and be late on your first day."

"Wow… thanks… that's so kind of you…"

The doors closed and inside I started to panic. _This is not a part of the plan… how on earth am I __extricate myself from this?_

**-  
Jep nothing's going the way it was planned… XD**

Next chap Lok will try to save his ass, and are D&Z struggling with the past events  
And reviews are welcome of course ^^


	6. Jump in the deep

**Chapter 6: Jump in the deep**

_**The 40**__**th**__** floor of the Organization's headquarter  
**_  
Lok

Rick knocked on a white door.

"Come in." A voice said.

He opened the door and pushed me inside.  
"Good luck Jari!"

The door closed behind me, and quickly I studied the room I was in. It was an office, with white walls, grey carpet on the floor, big windows, and on the left wall a hideous abstract painting. I couldn't see whether it was a very fat lady, a mountain landscape, a dog, or just some scribbly lines. Probably the last one.  
There wasn't much furniture in the office, only a few grey filing cabinets on the right, and a big, shiny black desk in the middle. A frail man in a grey suit was sitting behind it, on an expensive looking leather office chair.

"You're Mr. Hämäläinen, I assume?" He said with a smooth voice, just as smooth as his (probably with a lot of gel) backwards combed black hair.

I nodded.

"I'm Floris Berger, the head of the staff department." He shook my hand.  
"Please sit down." He motioned to the simple black chair in front of him.

I sat down. The chair was lower than his, and when he looked down on me from behind his metal- framed glasses, I felt my courage level drop to a new low. _How on earth am I going to extricate myself from this?_

"So… let's get started… I assume you've brought the papers you've received?"

_Which papers… Oh fuck fuck fuck, Lok think up something!_

"I have to go to the toilet!" I said, louder than I meant to.

Mr. Berger frowned. "This conversation is only going to take about fifteen minutes, can't you wait?"

"No."

He sighted. "Very well then, the toilet is at the left end of the hall."

I quickly stood up and walked towards the door.

"But please hurry up, I've got a busy schedule!"

I closed the door behind me, and with a heavily pounding hearth I walked through the hall. Of course I wasn't going to the toilet at all, so instead of going left I went to the right, and opened the door at the end of the hall, that was the one we'd gone through on our way up. At least, I thought so.  
the door lead to another hall, with again many doors. I hastily walked through it, searching for the elevator.  
_'That Rick- guy was right… this building really is a labyrinth…'  
_I cursed myself, why hadn't I paid more attention on the way up?_  
_I walked for another five minutes, opening numerous doors and entering new halls, but none of them led to the elevators. And to make it even worse, the hall I was in now was dead ended, if you didn't count the big window.  
Frustrated I looked on my watch, ten minutes had passed since I left Mr. Berger's office. It wouldn't take long before he would realize I was gone. If he hadn't realized that already.

"Hey you, stop!"

I turned around and saw two big gorilla's in suits, probably security guards, walking towards me. Panic ran through my head. _'Danmmit! He has realized I've taken off.'_  
I was trapped, there was nowhere to go except for… the windows. A crazy plan occurred to me. It really was insane but it was my only chance.

"Darkfog!" I yelled, and the narrow hall smothered in smoke. I turned around and ran blindly through the big window at the end of the hall.

_**Outside**_

Sophie

I looked nervously on my watch, it was 08.30.  
"Michael, Lok has been inside there for 30 minutes now, what if something's wrong?"

"Don't worry, Lok can take care of himself, he probably just can't find the right suit."

Suddenly we both startled of the sound of breaking glass. I turned my head just in time to see a little spot jumping out of a window on the 40th floor.

"Lok!" I screamed.

"It's time to get the car…" Michael said dryly.

Lok

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

_God I hadn't realized exactly how high 40 flours are!_

I had to time the spell that was going to save my life right, or I would crash down on the roof of the building next to the headquarter.

"Featherdrop!"

Magically my speed reduced, and I gently landed on my hands and knees on the roof.  
My head beat like crazy my head spun, but I had escaped, and I was still alive.  
"Yes!" I yelled relieved, and I stood up.

Suddenly I remembered the two security guards. I looked up and saw to my great relieve they didn't dared to follow me. _'Ha! Cowards!'_  
I triumphantly jumped of the roof. It was a cinch compared to my previous one. I walked across the street, but didn't saw Sophie and Michael anywhere.

"There he is!" A suit yelled.

Of course my escape hadn't gone unnoticed. I quickly started running, followed by a dozen of suits. Panic ran through my head again. _'Where are Michael and Sophie?'_  
Suddenly I heard the sound of a car approaching. I looked to the right and saw Michaels red BMW 335 Cabrio.

"Lok, jump!" Michael yelled, and I quickly jumped in the back, next to Sophie.  
Spells flew us to ears, one of them shattered a wing mirror, but we were soon out of their reach. I looked back and smiled when I saw the shrinking suits returning to the headquarter, frustrated.

Sophie hugged me. "God Lok, are you all right? You're bleeding."

I stroked her cheek and smiled.  
"I'm fine, it are just a few scratches from the glass."

"And?"

"And what?"

"You know where Dante is?"

"Well… not exactly, I'll explain it when we're out of the city."

Michael drove out of Prague (far above maximum speed), while Sophie and me checked if we weren't followed. Fortunately it seemed that the suits had decided or lead was too big.  
After 40 minutes driving Michael stopped at a little roadhouse.

"Ah man!" He said while assessing the damage to his car. "Those assholes have not only crushed the wing mirror, but also a taillight… and look at the varnish!"

Sophie sighted. "Michael we've got far more important things to worry about!"

Grumbling he followed me and Sophie inside the roadhouse. It was quite empty, the only other customers were a family with two crying kids, and an old man who was sitting behind the bar. We chose the least dirty- looking plastic table and sat down.  
A waitress approached us almost immediately. She was heavily drawn up, and her lank blond (obviously dyed) hair was put up in a sloppy pigtail.  
"What will it be?" She asked with a bored tone in her voice.

"Ehm just three coffee." Sophie said friendly.

"Coming." She said, and shuffled back to the bar.

"So, Lok, where are they holding Dante?" Michael asked expectantly.

"Well, they aren't." I answered.

"So what… He just disappeared in thin air?"

"No, of course not, and Defoe and his suits really were in Venice to kidnap Dante, but somebody... I don't know, was faster than them."

"….. Ok so you're saying someone else than the organization is holding Dante hostage? Who? And why?"

"Yes, an ex- organization spy named Zhalia Moon, but I don't know why."

"Wait a minute." Sophie said. "One woman has kidnapped Dante? I don't believe it, how did she do that?"

I shrugged. "I know it sounds weird but that's what that suit told me."

The waitress returned and put three cups of black coffee on the table. When she'd left Michael took his laptop out of his bag.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"I'm going to hack the Organizations personnel files again…. Dammit the file about her is secret."

"So you can't open it?" Sophie asked.

"No of course I can, it's just going to take a little longer…" His fingers tapped virulent on the keyboard.  
"There, I've got it!"

Quickly Sophie and I moved next to him.  
"Seems this Zhalia was a top organization spy, until she quit three weeks ago… since then she's on their most- wanted list… looks like they weren't very happy with her departure."

He looked at her picture. "Wow she's hot, I wouldn't mind being kidnapped by her- Au!"

Sophie had smacked him.  
"You're talking about the kidnapper of your brother, you pig!"

Michael sniggered. "Hey I'm just being honest…"

I stopped listening to their bickering, and stared out the window. _Where on earth is Dante? Is he alright? And what is crazy woman planning to do with him?_

I took a sip of my coffee, and shivered. It was cold. __

_**Zhalia's house**_

Zhalia_****_

I checked the light switch, but there was still no electricity. They'd probably shut down electricity because I hadn't paid the bill. It was not that I didn't had the money, I just didn't wanted to use my bank account, because the Organization than maybe would find where I am. _****_

"Well, no toast for Dante today." I muttered.

_Dante… No stop. Don't think of him…_

But it was already too late, my thought s drifted away to last night and butterflies tickled in my belly.  
I shook my head, as I was trying to shake of these unwanted thoughts and feelings. It was probably the best if I didn't go down to the basement, to Dante, any more… but I had to bring him food, and maybe a candle, it was probably completely dark down there.  
A part of me didn't mind going back to him at all….

**-  
Teachers are trying to throw me to death with homework (damn them) but god bless the sick teachers, thanks to who I had some free hours to write this new chap ^^ Hope you liked it!**

So what are L, S and M going to do with this new information? Will they ever find Dante before it's too late? Because Klaus is waiting in the shadows….

__

__


	7. A hopeless situation

**Chapter 7: A hopeless situation**

_**Zhalia's basement  
**__**  
**_Dante

I had lost all track of time, and it annoyed the hell out of me that it I couldn't see the hands of my watch. It had been pitch- dark for god knows how long now. It felt like an eternity, because I couldn't get to sleep. I just couldn't stop thinking about my brothers, about what they were doing to find me, and Zhalia… Again my thought s drifted to her, her smile, her lips, her kiss… It all seemed ages ago, and I slowly started to doubt whether it had even happened at all.

Suddenly I heard footsteps on the stairs. I sat up and heard the door opening. Zhalia entered, holding a plate with breakfast in her one hand (so it was probably morning), and a glass jar with a candle in it, in her other hand. The flickering warm orange light softly lightened up the room.  
Without saying a word she put the candle on the floor, and the breakfast on the bed.  
There was a moment of silence. She seemed to doubt whether she should stay here with me, or leave.

"What happened to the light?" I asked, to break the silence and prevent her from leaving.

"Oh the electricity company has shut me down because I haven't paid the bill for a few weeks." She answered with a blank face.

I gave her a questioning glance, and she smiled lightly.  
"I don't want the organization to find us."

"Wait a second… I've only been here for a few days, were they already looking for you before all this?"

She bit on her lip and remained silent, but I knew it was true.

"Why are they searching for you?" I asked.

She sighted and sat down next to me.  
"I was an organization agent once, but I quit. My… boss didn't accepted that, and that's all you need to know."

"You were an organization agent?"  
I was stunned, I really hadn't expected this.

"Does it matter?" She said, a bit irritated.

"Well… not really, you quit." I said, and smiled comforting. I wasn't lying, it really didn't mattered to me, though it did made me quite curious, I really wanted to know what had happened.

"Why'd you quit?" I asked.

"That's not important."

I felt she didn't wanted to talk about it anymore, though I still hoped she would.  
"That's okay, you've already told me more than you should."

She smiled, and seemed relieved the topic was closed.  
"Are you bored?" She suddenly asked.

"Ehm.. .well yeah, a little bit, staring to the ceiling isn't as much fun anymore as it was in the beginning. " I joked

"Me to, I'm also stuck here, and now I even can't watch tv anymore."  
She stood up.  
"Wait here, I'll be back in a minute."

"I can't really go anywhere." I said, and I held up my still chained left hand.

Zhalia smiled apologetically and walked upstairs, to return after a few minutes with a little white pack in her hand.

"Is that a pack of cards?" I asked surprised.

"Yes, you like playing cards?"

"Sure, what you want to do?"

She thought for a second.  
"You know crazy eights?"

"Great, prepare to be beaten." She said when I nodded, and she started to deal the cards.

"Oh I think it's going to be the other way round." I said teasing.

_**Sophie's house, Venice, 14 hours later**_

Sophie

"God I'm tired!" Michael said, and he plumped down stretched out on the green couch in my living room.  
I was too tired to tell him to take his shoes of first. It was two o'clock in the morning, and we'd just came home from Prague. After we had found out Dante wasn't there, we had taken the first flight back to Venice.

I sat down on Lok's lap and laid my head on his shoulder.

"What should we do now?" I asked after a few minutes.

Lok nor Michael answered, and they both looked at me with a slightly desperate glance.  
_'This really is a hopeless situation…' _I thought. That woman and Dante could be anywhere, and to make it even worse organization was probably looking for them to, so time was running out.

"I've got an idea!" Michael said suddenly, and he stood up enthusiastically.  
"We send that Zhalia an email, going by the name of the Professor, in which we offer her five million Euros for Dante!"

"That's the most stupid idea I've ever heard, in the first place because we don't know her email address, second because she probably doesn't checks her email, the organization is looking for her remember?, and finally because we don't have five million Euros!" I said.

"I thought you were the rich Casterwell heiress?"

"Yes but I'm not thát rich, you fool!" I yelled irritated.

"Okay, that was uncalled for, at least I try to think up something!"

"I'm thinking of a plan to! But when I get an idea, I first consider if it isn't complete nonsense!"

"My plan isn't complete nonsense, you're just bad tempered!"

"Guys, guys, stop arguing! Look, we're all tired, so let's go to bed, I'm sure we'll think up a plan tomorrow." Lok said, when I stood up to throw a pillow to Michael's head.

"Fine." I said, and I dropped the pillow down on the coffee table.

"Yeah good idea Lok." Michael said, and he walked towards the door.  
"Oh yeah, and Sophie, please go sleep really long because you've got rings under your from here to Tokio."

He laughed and closed the door just in time to not get hit by the pillow I furiously threw at him as hard as I could.  
I swear, that idiot was really getting on my nerves sometimes.

_**Zhalia's basement, 13 and a half hours earlier**_

Dante

"Ha! I've won!" I said.

"Dammit, I want a revenge…" Zhalia said, and put her cards down on the bed.

The past half hour we had been talking and playing cards like… normal people and for a moment I'd totally forgotten I was her hostage. Now remembered I was, I wished that it had been different. That we had met in a bar or the supermarket or something like that, that we were normal people. But we weren't. She was an ex- organization agent who had abducted me for unknown (but probably complex) reasons, and I was a top- foundation agent with many enemies whose life was probably in great danger.

"Dante? Why are you staring like that?" She asked.

I snapped out of my pondering.  
"It's nothing…" I said, and I looked into her gold- brown eyes. They sparkled in the candle- light and her skin scaled. It seemed warm and soft and I wanted to feel that warmth. Without really realizing what a was doing I stretched my hand and touched her cheek lightly.

"What are you doing?" She said, but put her hand on mine like she knew exactly what I was doing.

I slowly moved forward towards her, and she didn't flinched. Lightly I touched her lips with mine.  
First she didn't react, but then her lips caught mine in a kiss, and she put her hands on my back. I gently pushed her down, while her one hand caressed the bare skin under my shirt, and the other tossed my hear.  
Suddenly she broke the kiss. "This is so wrong." She said panting.  
"I know." I whispered in her ear, and started kissing her neck passionately. She moaned softly and I pulled out her shirt, then continued kissing her warm body.

Suddenly a phone rang and startled we sat up. Zhalia quickly took her mobile phone out her pocket and looked who was calling. Her eyes widened and quickly jumped of the bed.  
"Sorry I- I have to answer this…" She said with a trembling voice, and walked upstairs, leaving me alone in the basement. Again.

_'Electronics have a really bad timing lately …'_ I thought, and I sighted. I desperately wanted to know who had called. It had to be someone important because Zhalia really seemed upset, and somehow I felt it had something to do with me.  
I laid down and stared to the ominous flickering gleam of the candlelight. All of the sudden I felt a bit afraid, I really had a bad feeling about this.

Zhalia

"Klaus." I said while I walked upstairs.

_"Zhalia… you sound surprised… you've forgotten about me?"_

"No of course not."

_"Good, because I've made a decision… you win, I'll trade your brother for Mr. Vale."_

My heart skipped a beat, I hadn't thought he'd actually agree. But he did, I was supposed to be happy now, but all I felt was fear and suspicion. And grief. The thought of handing Dante to Klaus' mercy made my eyes fill with tears.

_"Zhalia?"_

I forced myself to calm down, and think rational.

"How do I know I can trust you? How do I know this isn't a trap? I don't even know if my brother has survived all your experimenting."

_"He is okay, physically, I promise."_

"I know you're promises aren't worth a thing. I want proof."

_"You know_ _I can't give you any proof. Now give me a location and come there with Mr. Vale, then I'll bring your brother and we'll switch. There will be no suits, just us, and I'll leave you alone for the rest of your life, I promise."_

"Give a moment to think about it."

Was I willing to take this risk? Take the risk my brother had died, and that Klaus would bring suits? I couldn't think of a reason why Klaus would keep his promise. After all I was still a part of his experiments.  
_'But eventually he'll find me anyway. I can't hide forever. Now there is a little chance he'll leave me alone… A little chance I'll get my brother back.'_ I thought.

_'But Dante… Then I'll lose Dante.'_ The thought of that hurt my heart. I couldn't believe how important he'd became for me in such a short period of time. I wished we had met under different circumstances. But it was as it was, I had to make a choice. Dante or my brother?

**-**  
**Jeej, I'm back from Italy, and after I've slept more than the whole past week, I immediately started writing this new chap… et voila, here it is! XD  
I Hope you liked it, and that it didn't was confusing (if it was let me know, then I'll try to adapt it!)**

Next chap Zhalia makes a decision, and S, L and M think up a plan to find Zhalia and Dante.

Feel free to review! ^^  



	8. Why?

**Chapter 8: Why?**

_**Next morning, Sophie's house, Venice  
**_**  
**Lok

"I'll go search through Organization documents again, maybe they have more files about her, next to her personal one." Michael said.

After a good night of sleep we decided that we first had to gain as much information about Zhalia as possible. With more information it would be easier to think up a plan to find her and Dante, was our reasoning.  
Well, it actually wasn't as much reasoning as well desperation. We just couldn't think up anything better to do.

Michael locked himself up in his room with his laptop, while Sophie and me… ehm… had a 'nice conversation' in her room. If you know what I mean.

We were lying on her bed (a white four poster bed with silk purple sheets, and dozens of little bright- colored cushions and stuffed animals, which were now all over the floor), when somebody knocked on the door.  
"Lok? Sophie? Are you there? I've got news!" Michael said.

In world record- time we put our clothes back on, and walked outside with a straight face, like nothing special had happened.

"So, what have you found out?" Sophie asked.

"Well, I've found out that in reports of her missions, the name Klaus is often called. That name sounded a bit familiar to me, so I searched for his personal file, which was even better protected than Zhalia's, though not well enough of course, and it turns out he is a very high agent, a scientist."

Sophie gasped. "He must be that crazy scientist I've heard about!"

I gave her a questioning glance, I had never heard of him before.

"Lok, the two foundation agents who went missing in the Czech Republic last year? The mutated organization agents the Foundation had problems with a few months ago? Rumor says that's all his work."

Michael nodded. "And hold on, according to his file, Zhalia is his daughter."

"What?" Sophie and I yelled in disbelief.

"It's true, though I really can't understand how a man as ugly as he can have such a good- looking daughter." Michael minded Klaus' picture, and shivered. "He must have a beautiful wife, though his file says he's not married."

Sophie snorted. "I can imagine that, what woman would marry such an evil creep?"

_**24 hours earlier, Zhalia's house  
**_  
Zhalia

"No." I had said the words with confidence. I knew I was making the right decision, though a part of me was still a bit uncertain… but I never was fully certain of anything.

_"No? Really… you don't want your brother back?"_

"Of course I want him back, but not this way…. Besides, you can't guaranty me that he's alive, nor that you'll leave me alone afterwards."  
I wasn't planning on telling him the full reason.

_"I knew it… I knew you'd be too weak to sacrifice an innocent man for your own purpose."_

"Yes, I guess I am."

_"I hope you realize I won't stop until I have Vale to finish my biggest experiment, and you my dear…"_

A cold shiver ran down my spine, but wasn't going to let him intimidate me.  
"Well than you should hurry up, because I'm going to set Dante free."

_ "Dante? Are we calling front names?"_

I ignored that remark, and wanted to hang up to end this conversation once and for all.

_"Actually it is you who should hurry up."_

I hesitated a second, maybe it was better if I would just hang up, but I wanted to know what he had to say.  
"What are you talking about?" I asked.

_"I'm talking about the fact I'll be right there with you within… two or three minutes."  
_  
My hart stood still. He was bluffing…. Or wasn't he?  
"How?" I asked, but moment the words had left my mouth I knew the answer.

_"The chip I've implanted in you when you were eight."  
_  
I remembered that morning. I woke up, and noticed a tiny scar on my wrist, a little line of barely five millimeter. I asked Klaus if he knew how it happened, and he told me he had chipped me. He said it was for safety, in case he ever lost me. I was eight and I couldn't really care, so I just shrugged, and returned to my room….

"But… then why all of this? Why have you negotiated with me?" I asked with a slightly trembling voice.

_"Because I like to play games."_

I pushed on the red button of my phone. My hart pounded like crazy and my head swam.

_God how could I forget that chip?  
_I cursed myself for being so stupid, and stared to my wrist. The scar had faded a bit but you could still see it.  
_Maybe I can cut that damn chip out with a knife…  
_But I rejected that idea immediately. The chip was very tiny, and even if I would find it before Klaus was here, I would probably bleed to death.  
_There's only one thing I can do now…_I thought, and I quickly ran downstairs.

_**24 hours later, Sophie's house, Venice  
**_  
Lok**  
**_**  
**_"Maybe she's with him!" I said.

"With who?" Sophie asked.

"With Klaus! Maybe he helped Zhalia kidnapping Dante, and hide for the Organization ."

"But he's a high Organization agent himself…"

"Yeah but he is her father right? He would help her!"

"But she has left the Organization, if I was her father I wouldn't be very happy with that. " Michael said. "And besides, what are they doing with Dante then? Zhalia hasn't kidnapped him for any Organization purpose, otherwise she wouldn't have sabotaged DeFoe."

"I don't know…." I said desperately. "It's all so weird, I don't understand why de Organization wanted Dante in the first place, nor why Zhalia wanted him, and not at all what they're doing with him."

"More foundation agents have been kidnapped by the organization the past ten years…" Sophie said in a low voice.

"And how many of them we ever find back?" Michael asked bitter.

Nobody answered. I didn't even want to think about the possibility we'd never see Dante again.

I sighted of frustration. "Doesn't the foundation has some kind of machine or spell with which we can find Dante?"

Michael snorted. "I don't think so, the Foundation isn't the FBI. And such a spell doesn't exist. "

"Well actually it does." LeBlanche said. He and Sophie's bodyguard Santiago had just entered the hallway.

Sophie gave him a questioning glance. "What are you talking about LeBlanche?"

"Please follow me Miss. Sophie." He said. "I think I have the solution for your problem."

Michael and I wanted to follow him to, but Santiago stopped us.  
"Only Miss. Sophie."

We wanted to protest, but realized that arguing with Santiago would be useless. He was inexorable.

So LeBlanche and Sophie (who looked slightly nervous) went upstairs, leaving me and Michael behind.

"Wow that was weird…." Michael said, and he shook his head.  
Suddenly he stared at me with an amused glance, and snickered.  
"You've got some pink lipstick on your neck, tiger."

_**24 hours earlier, Zhalia's house**_

Dante

I heard quick footsteps running of the stairs, and Zhalia came in. She had forgotten to put her shirt back on when she left me a few minutes ago, but it was especially her face that drew my attention. She looked… I don't know… confused, maybe even Scared, but definitely stressed, though with a fierce determination in her brown eyes. I had never seen her as upset like this before.

I asked her what the hell was going on, but she ignored me, put her shirt back on, and took a little key out of her pocket.  
_Is she going to-_

"I'm going to set you free."

I knew should be happy, but I wasn't. All I felt was confusion and suspicion.  
"Why?" I asked.

"Why? Why? Why there always have to be a why?" She said, and opened the handcuffs with the key. With a clinging sound they fell on the ground. I was free, and I stood up, but didn't left the room.

"Go! Hurry!" She almost yelled.

"I'm not going until you tell me what's going on…. Who called?"

I sighted deeply. "My boss called. He can be here any minute, that's why I've set you free, I … don't want him to get you."

I looked into her eyes. Was this an implicit way of telling me that she cares for me?

"Then come with me." I said.

"What?"

"Come with me, you can become a Foundation agent. The foundation will protect you against your boss and the Organization."

"Dante I can't."

"Sure you can. Look, I don't know why you've kidnapped me, but I know you're a good person. I'm sure they'll forgive you if you explain everything. Because… I do so."

This was my very implicit way of telling her I care for her, and I was sure she had understood it, because she looked away and bit on her lower lip. I was almost certain I saw tears in her eyes.

"Thank you, though I don't understand how you can forgive me while I haven't even told you the whole story…. And I- I want to come with you, I really do, but I can't." She said, and she showed me her wrist. First I saw nothing special, but then I noticed a tiny little scar. I wanted to ask her what it was, but she already answered before I could propose my question.

"My boss has chipped me, he can find me anywhere, so if I come with you, I'll endanger you."

I was shocked. "What kind of boss chips his employees?"

She smiled, though without any joy. "A really crazy insane boss."  
Suddenly she seemed to realize something.  
"Dante, you should really go now before-"

The sound of breaking glass interrupted her. She quickly turned around and ran upstairs. I followed her to the living room, where the sound had came from. There, a man with long grey hair and seven really big suits, wearing dark sunglasses, were waiting for us.

"Klaus." Zhalia said recalcitrant.

"Zhalia." Klaus said. "It has been some time ago hasn't it?"  
He smiled, like he had said something really funny, and cold shivers ran down my spine. I knew who this man was.

**-**

Cliffhanger! Mwuhahaha!

Sorry it I hadn't updated this story in such a long time, but exams are really mind- killing, and my inspiration- level had reached the zero- level.  
Still I've managed to write this new chap, so hope you liked it! (and again I hope it wasn't confusing… for me it all makes sense 'cause I wrote it, but I can image you getting a bit diffused of all this vague dialogs and thoughts)

Review if you want to make me haaaaapppyyyyy! =D


	9. I'll stand by you

**Chapter 9:** **I'll stand by you**

_**Sophie's house, Venice**_

Sophie****

I followed LeBlanche to the loft. I hadn't been there for a very long time, but when I saw the dusty wooden floor, the golden sunlight that fell through the one round window, the dusty brown couch, and the cardboard boxes full of forgotten objects and lost memories, I remembered I used to play here when I was a kid.  
When my parents were still alive the House in Venice was our vacation- manor, and when we were here, I loved to sneak to the loft, jump on the brown couch, open the boxes and discover hidden treasures.

"Miss Sophie?" LeBlanche said.

I smiled. "Do you remember I used to play here when I was a kid LeBlanche?"

He also smiled. "Of course I remember, the first time you did that me and your parents searched through the whole manor for you, but we couldn't find you. It was your mother who eventually came to the idea to check the loft, and here we found you. All dusty and with spider webs in your hair, but happy. Oh, the mess you left behind, and of course I was the one who had to clear that up."

LeBlanche walked towards a big closet. It was locked, but he took a little key out of his pocket and opened it.  
I was really curious and walked towards him. "A book?"

LeBlanche took a book out of the closet.  
"Not just a book." He said. "It's the book of light, a book that has been in your family for centuries. Dozens of generations of Casterwell have written spells and memories in this book. It was actually the intention that you would get the book at the age of eighteen, but you need it now. I'm sure you'll find a spell to find Dante in this book."

"Oh my god…" I whispered, when LeBlanche gave me the book. It was really thick, about 1000 pages. You could see it was very old, the Casterwell family coat of arms on the cover had faded, and the pages were yellow.  
Carefully I flipped through the pages, discovering dozens of different handwritings. The last written pages were written by my father. A teardrop fell on the paper.

I didn't even notice LeBlanche had left the room.

Lok****

"What are they doing upstairs? They have been gone for more than an hour now!" Michael said.

We were sitting in Sophie's living room, impatiently waiting for her return. Santiago had brought us tea and cookies (chocolate- chip my favorite) to keep us busy, but even cookies couldn't distract my thoughts.

"Lok, Michael!" Sophie had entered the living room. "I've got it! I've got the solution for our problem!"

We both jumped up. "You know how we can find Dante?" We said in unison.

With a bang Sophie laid a thick book down on the table. The book looked like it could fall apart any moment. She opened it somewhere in the middle and started to read aloud. "If you're seeking a person who's lost…. "

_**24 hours earlier, Zhalia's living room  
**_**  
**Dante

The seven suits standing behind Klaus were really big, unnaturally big, and I had the disturbing feeling I had seen them before.  
I remembered one of my missions I had some trouble with super strong suits. Not gym- like super strong but more alien- like super strong. They were one of Klaus' experiments and nearly killed me.  
I didn't know much about Klaus, only that he was insane and had kidnapped several Foundation agents for unknown purposes. I could barely believe hé was Zhalia's boss, of all persons.  
Suddenly I remembered what DeFoe had said to me on the day Zhalia 'saved' me. _''There someone who wants to meet you…'' _Could that person have been Klaus?

Zhalia's voice broke through my wondering.  
"Dante, go, I'll keep them busy."

"No! I'm not going to leave you."

She looked at me like she wanted to say something, but Klaus was faster.  
"What's this for weird phenomenon?" He said with a frown.

"Oh shut up Klaus!" Zhalia said, and she turned herself towards me again. "Go Dante! Please!"

I shook my head and I remained standing where I stood demonstratively. I didn't have a plan, and I knew the consequences, but it didn't matter. All I knew on that moment was that I didn't want to leave, that I was going to stand by her, no matter what would happen.

Klaus smiled. "What you want…. This is going to be even more interesting than I'd thought..."

Zhalia took my titans out of her pocket and threw them to me.  
"We're not going to come with you without a fight." She said.

"I already thought you'd say that…. But I hope you realize there's no way you're going to win this."

"We're still going to try." I said. "Caliban, Solwing, Freelancer!"

"Redcap." The seven suits said in unison.

"Gareon, Kilthane, Strix!" Zhalia summoned her titans to.

Klaus stepped aside, of course he was going to let his suits to the dirty work.

Caliban stabbed a Redcap down with his sword, and almost immediately another one tried to attack him from behind, but Kilthane stopped him.  
It looked like our titans were on the winning hand, but there were still seven suits to defeat.

"Touchram!" I fired a spell towards the nearest suit. It hit him and he crushed into the wall, but then stood up as if nothing happened.

"Enderflame." Two other suits said, and two beams of purple fire came towards us.

"Armorbrand!" I summoned a shield, but was surprised by the power of the attack. This definitely weren't normal suits.

_'Zhalia…' _I turned around to see if she was all right but all I saw was a trace of black. She had used Shadowspeed and kicked down the two suits before they even realized what was happening.  
But again they stood up. They didn't seem to be in any pain but you could see the jaw of the left one was broken. So these suits weren't immortal. That thought gave me a spark of hope.

Suddenly I felt a blow in my back, one of the suits had hit me from behind. I kicked against his knee and heard a satisfying breaking sound, but the suit didn't even blinked.

"Aaaah!" The suit yelled when Caliban's sword pierced him from behind. He fell on the ground and this time he didn't stood up any more.

"Dante!" Zhalia yelled.  
2 suits were holding her. All titans except for Caliban had returned to their amulets, so it was me and Caliban against 4 suits.

Caliban ran towards one of them to stab him with his sword, but the suit evaded the attack (they were very fast for their size) and defeated Caliban using Dragonfist. I had never seen a Dragonfist powerfull enough to defeat a titan.

The four suits slowly walked towards me.  
"It's over." One of them said and his hand glowed up purple.

I realized it really was over, I hadn't had enough power left to stop another Enderflame, and prepared myself for the painful blow that was going to come.

"No!"  
Somehow Zhalia had managed to free herself from the grip of the two suits, and out of nowhere she stood in front of me, and was hit instead of me.

"Zhalia!"  
She was lying unconscious on the floor, a few meters away from me. I wanted to go to her but was hit by some spell, and everything turned black.

_**Somewhere….**_

Lok

I looked to my reflection in the glass doors. I looked like some kind of construction worker with my stained brown overall, light blue wrinkled shirt, and big dark blue bag.  
_'Flinn's fish- experts_' stood with big white letters on the bag.

I prayed that my disguise would work, took a deep breath, and entered the small reception.****

"Welcome to Klaus' lab." The red- haired receptionist said. "You have an appointment?"

"Of course, of course." I said.

"Access code and Name?"

"1034- 5579, Rico Flinn, from Flinn's fish- experts, you know our commercial?"  
I started singing: "We take care, of your flipper- friends…."

"Please stop singing sir, I see your name is on the list and the code is accepted… "  
_Yes! Michael's the best!_  
"… but you were expected to come tomorrow."

_'Dammit I've cheered to soon…'_  
"That must be a mistake, Mr. Klaus himself has called me, his fishes, rare Malawi Cichliden, are ill and need help immediately."

"I'm sorry sir, I can't let you pass."

"Hmm I understand….Ah well if Klaus' fish die I can refer to you right? What was your name again?"

The girl's face tightened. She was hesitating.

"Think of the fish… those pore creatures are very very ill, they have fish- ebola." I said.

"Okay then, you can pass, follow the red shafts and take the elevator to the third floor, Klaus's relax- room, there's his aquarium."

I nodded and walked towards the elevator, but instead pushing the 3- button I pushed the -2, the lab- department. I quickly changed my clothes, I exchanged my brown overall for a white lab coat, and put on a pair of glasses.  
"Ping." The elevator stopped, and I walked into a long white hallway. At the end was another red- haired girl wearing a white uniform. She was standing next to some kind of iris- scanner.

"Your name?" She asked.

"I'm Docter Smith, from the Organization Headquarter, I'm here to check a few things, commissioned by the Professor."

"Welcome Docter Smith, please look into this lens, I have to do an iris check before I can open the door for you."

"Of course, of course…" I walked towards the scanner.  
"Has anyone ever told you that you have beautiful eyes?"

"Please look into the scanner Docter."

"And I also like your shoes… but do you know there's a stain on the right one?"

"A stain? Oh no!"  
The girl looked down to her shoes.  
"I don't see a-"

She fell forward, unconscious. I had pricked her in her neck with my James Bond- like spy- ballpoint, which contained a soporific.  
I took a little card out of her pocket and pulled it through the scanner next to the door. The door opened and I continued my search for Dante.

_Dante, Dante, Dante where are you?  
_  
There were so many doors, which one was the right one?  
Suddenly saw Dante's name was on one of them. I opened it and entered a really big, white, empty room. Almost empty.  
"Dante!"

"Lok!" He said. "I can't believe it, you've found me!"

"Dante, quick, let's get the hell out of here!"

"No Lok, I can't, I'm going to help Klaus conquer the world."

_This has to be a joke…._

Suddenly the back wall disappeared, and Klaus (a big man with a long blond beard and round glasses, wearing a white lab- coat) entered, followed by Zhalia (who was wearing a tight silver spy- suit).

"Yes, Dante is going to help me conquer the world…. First we kill the Professor and take over the organization, then the Foundation, then Europe, and then, the whole world! Mwuhahaha." Klaus said viciously.

I couldn't believe this was really happening. "But- but Dante would never do that."

"Of course he won't." Klaus said. "This is a Dante- droid, one the thousands I've build. The real Dante is dead…. Zhalia, show our visitor my army."

_This can't be happening, Dante can't be dead!_

Zhalia nodded, and took some kind of remote- control out of her pocket. She pushed on a big red button, and numerous Dante- droids appeared.

"Droids, kill him!" Klaus yelled.

All the Dante- droids walked towards me, and their hands turned into machine guns.  
"Kill Lok, Kill Lok, Kill Lok." They said, and pointed their guns at me….

"Waaaaaah!"  
I awaked with a start, bathing in sweat. It took me a few seconds before I realized I was in an airplane, still alive and not through sieved with bullets.  
_What a nightmare…._

I smiled apologizing to the people who were staring at me with an angry glance.

"Lok? What's wrong with you?" Sophie, who was sitting next to me, asked.

"Nothing…. Just a dream…" I said, and I stared out the window to the grayish clouds, hoping that my dream wouldn't come true.__

**-  
Haha sorry for that dream of Lok, my idea of a little practical joke ;-)**

Review plz ^^


	10. Fear, deperation, and guiltfeeling

**Chapter 10: Fear, desperation, and guilt- feeling**

_**At Klaus' lab**_

Dante_****_

I was lying on a cold, hard surface. It didn't feel very comfortable, but still I didn't want to get up though.  
Suddenly I remembered everything that had happened; Zhalia, the suits, Klaus. For a brief second I believed it all had been a weird dream, but when I opened my eyes, and examined the room I was in, I realized it wasn't.  
The room was about five by five meters, with a grey metal- like floor and bluish grey walls. No windows, one metal door, a metal table and a chair, and cold fluorescents on the ceiling.  
I sat up and noticed my hands were tied behind my back. _Just great… How long have been asleep? And where's Zhalia?_

I felt a wave of ice-cold panic coming over me. I forced myself to calm down, and see the positive side of the situation. Unfortunately there was no positive side. _I'm so screwed  
_I was seriously screwed, there was nothing more to say, just screwed. There was no way anyone was going to find me here.  
The only thing I could do now was waiting until Klaus would come by and reveal his plans, if he was going to do that at all.

So I waited… and waited… at least two hours, maybe four, maybe even six. I had tried to count the seconds but was impossible to keep up doing that.  
It's weird, but if you really have nothing to do but think, time passes by really fast. But I was starting to get really hungry and thirsty and that was bad indeed.  
I tried to distract my thoughts by thinking of Zhalia, but imagining where she was now, and in which condition soon became too painful. So I tried to think about my brothers, but I found it hard to picture their faces. It felt like ages since I had last seen them. __

The door opened and a person came in.  
"Good afternoon Mr. Vale." Klaus said. "Before you try to do something audacious like attacking me; this house is filled with suits and electronic protection, you'll never get out of here alive."  
_  
_That son a bitch had all the power and he knew it. I gnashed my teeth and resisted the urge to attack him after all. It would be useless and probably only make my situation worse.  
"Where's Zhalia?" I asked him.

Klaus smiled, though without any joy. "Why this interest for my sweet daughter?"

_Daughter?  
_"Daughter?"

My astonishment seemed to amuse him. "Yes, my daughter. Maybe not biologically, but I raised her, taught her everything she knows… and she thanked me by leaving me." He said. "Leaving me after all we've been trough… she thought she could just do that but she was wrong… she belongs to me…"  
He seemed to be talking to himself more than to me. _Now this guy's really starting to creep me out.  
_And I was worried about Zhalia. A lot. Where was she? What happened to her? Was she unharmed? The thought that something bad had happened to her made my blood turn into ice.

_**On that moment**_

Lok

We were sitting in a bus, heading towards the place Dante had to be, according to Sophie's spell. The spell was called Anyfind, and could be used to enchant an object from the person you're searching for, so that it points out where the person is located. So Michael and I searched a suitable object from Dante (one of his titan's he hadn't with him when he disappeared) and gave it to Sophie. She used the spell and held the amulet above the map of the world (sounds kind of wicca- like doesn't it?). First nothing happened, but then the amulet glowed up purple and touched the map on Slovenia. Whereupon we searched a map of Slovenia (took us quite some time, a good map of Slovenia is hard to find) and did the same thing again. This time the amulet touched the map a few kilometers north of the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana (ha, try to say that ten times in a row).

We had taken the next plane to Slovenia, and now we were in the bus. The place we were going to was very remote, somewhere in the forested Alps, far away from cities and big roads.  
Most of the other passengers had already got off. Me, Sophie, Michael, and a man who looked like some kind of forester were the only one left (and the bus driver of course).  
I pictured the place where they (we now assumed Zhalia worked together with Klaus, because he has an address somewhere in Slovenia according to his file) were detaining Dante as a big creepy castle, or a sober cement prison, like you see in movies. But Sophie on the other hand, thought it was a sweet little log cabin.  
"Because a log cabin won't attract any attention." She said.

"But it's so remote, it doesn't has to be unsuspicious." I said.

"Once we're there, you'll see I'm right."

"I bet you're not."

"Ok deal, we'll bet. The winner… treats the other on a nice dinner."

Michael sighted. "Guys, focus! This is not the time to think of romantic dinners, it's rescue- time."

All of the sudden the bus stopped.  
"This last bus stop, uspeh!" The bus driver said.

We stepped out of the warm bus, into the cold. The bus driver waved at us, before turning around and driving away.

"Damn it's cold!" Michael said. There was a freezing wind and the thin layer of snow on the trees indicated that the winter falls early in Slovenia.  
Fortunately we all had put on a thick coat, but we hadn't brought any hand gloves, so put my hands into my pockets.

"W- which way do we go now?" I asked with chattering teeth.

Sophie pulled a map out of her pocket. "We have to follow that little road uphill." She said, and she pointed to the forest behind us.

"I don't see a road." Michael said.

"It's there, you see?"

If you looked really carefully you could see there was some space between the trees; the 'road'. Which appeared to be just a (with snow covered) sandy wood path, barely three steps broad.

"It better be a short walk." Michael muttered discontentedly.

"That depends." Sophie said with a smile. "You consider three hours as a short walk?"

"Un- freaking believable!" Michael moaned.

_**At Klaus' lab**_

Zhalia

_Un freaking believable….! _I knew Klaus was an evil crazy asshole, but I'd never thought he would do this to me.

XxXxXxXxXx  
When I woke up, I immediately recognized the room I was in. It was the lab of one of Klaus' many houses. I had the feeling I had been here before, but I could be wrong because all Klaus' labs looked quite the same. Lots of bluish grey and metal. Fluorescents on the wall and a whole bunch of metal lockers, filled with papers and fluids, (magical) instruments, and results and ideas for his experiments.

I sat up, though it hurt to move. That Enderflame had hit me really hard.  
My hands were tied behind my back, and I knew there was no use of trying to run. The doors were electrified, and cameras were everywhere. Escaping was impossible, I had seen many unfortunate Foundation- agents trying, but all had failed.  
Somehow I had the idea the universe was punishing me for never doing anything to help them. Sure, I had been nice to them, I had given them food and drinks secretly, but I had never tried to do more than that. I knew there wasn't much I could have done anyway, Klaus doesn't listens to anyone but himself (and maybe the Professor), but still I could have tried, I could have cared more about them.  
And now I was stuck here myself, and Dante to.

_Dante…_

It was my fault, all my fault. Why hadn't I forced him to go? I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but quickly blinked them away when I heard someone coming.

The door opened and Klaus came in. His face was as expressionless as ever, but I knew him well and could see in his eyes that he was angry. Very, very angry. And when's he's in a mood like that, experience shows it's better to avoid him. But I couldn't now, in fact I couldn't go anywhere, and there was nothing I could do or say to make it right.  
This consciousness made my blood curdle in my veins. I felt a deep fear, fear I guess I had always felt towards him. But no way I was going to show him that.

"Zhalia, finally awake I see?"

I decided to ignore him (despite my strong presumption it would only make things worse).

"Why are you ignoring me my dear? Why are you turning against me after all I've done for you?"

"You killed my parents! That's what you done for me!"  
_So far the ignoring part…._

"I saved you… I saved you from a trivial normal life!" He said. "You know Zhalia, you could have became one of the best Organization agents ever, my successor… But unfortunately it has turned out you're not. So we both know what's going to happen now."

I remembered all those foundation agents, and my breath caught.

"I've accomplished my pain- spell, the only thing I need now is someone to test it on."

I knew where this was going to, and tried to prepare myself for what was about to come.  
All of the sudden there was a flash of red and an electrifying pain shot through my whole body. I screamed without even noticing. Seconds seemed to last hours, until it finally stopped.  
I was lying on my back on the ground, heavily breathing.

"Grade?" He asked.

"Nah… a seven… is- is that all you got?" I said provocatively. Probably not thé smartest thing to do, but didn't want him to think he had already won.

He snickered. "Zhalia, Zhalia, always joking. Even at the end of your life."

He raised his hand and said the spell again.  
XxXxXxXxXx

And again, and again, and again. Until he got bored and left. But he was going to come back.  
_I don't know how long I can take this….  
_How long would it take before I would break, physically or mentally. A week? A month? A year?

The thought of that made me almost have a panic attack. And for the hundredths time I tried to free my hands, but failed. No spell could break the ropes and the lockers were locked, so I couldn't search for a knife or something like that either.  
_How do people on in movies bear this? _I thought, tough I knew movies are fictional.  
_They have hope… hope that somebody will save them…. Their beloved ones, the police, FBI, there's always somebody who searches for them. _But nobody was searching for me. Nobody would save me. I was going to die here, and Dante to, it was only a matter of time.  
Tears streamed down my face, but it felt good somehow. I cried hoping that the tears would wash out my fear, desperation and guilt- feeling.

**-  
**_**At that moment**_****

Klaus

It had all turned out pretty well. I had Dante Vale, the last thing I needed to complete my biggest experiment ever, though a bit later than I had planned. And I also had Zhalia back.  
I looked to Dante Vale, who was staring at me with a glance filled with deep hate. It made me smile.

I wondered how much I would tell him of my plan. I felt the urge to tell him everything, I wanted him to know how brilliant I truly am. And nobody was going to stop me. Nobody could stop me. I was going to rule the world like a god, finally.

That vision spread a deep feeling of satisfaction through my body, but I couldn't fully enjoy it. Something was gnawing on me, something was missing, something… was making me really angry. And that thing was Zhalia.  
It wasn't supposed to be like this, this was not the way I had pictured it when I had met her for the first time…..

**-  
Next chap will start with a flashback to the day Klaus met Zhalia for the first time…**

Reading this back I notice this is quite a dramatic chap (and there's more where that came from xD) I guess I've watched to many episodes of Criminal Minds lately xD (ps: it's a great series)

I hope you liked it and didn't mind the Klaus pov (When there is a bad guy involved in a story I always wonder what he thinks, why he does what he does so that's why)

So please Review to make me happyyyyy!


	11. Fate and Faith

**Chapter 11: Fate and Faith**

_**At Klaus' lab**_

Klaus

XxXxXx Flashback! XxXxXx  
_**Rotterdam, Netherlands**_

It was a cloudy Thursday morning and I was walking through the streets of Rotterdam. The professor had sent me here to solve some problems, but everything was under control now. I should have returned to Prague yesterday but I had decided to stay here a few more days, as a little vacation.  
I always loved being in Rotterdam. I just liked the atmosphere of the city, especially on a dark, depressing day as this. It was an atmosphere of freedom, it felt like I could do anything I want and nobody would even notice. All people around me on the street were in a hurry, life was fast, but for me it felt like time stood still when I was here.  
I looked up the sky, and saw the clouds had darkened._ It's going to be raining soon_…  
And I had been right, within a few seconds it was raining cats and dogs. I sheltered in a little alley between two houses, and watched the people who were walking alongside the canals. A sloppy looking man with a dog, two blond girls with a lot of shopping bags, and a business man wearing a suit on a bicycle. He annoyed me. I would have wanted to kill him if I hadn't been in such a good mood. The circumstances weren't ideal anyway, it was by day and there were too many people around. But just the thought of me being able to kill him if I'd wanted to, was a happy thought. I could decide about life and death, just like god.

After a few minutes there was not one person in the street any more, everybody had fled for the rain. At least I thought so, until I saw a little figure passing by. It was a girl of about six years old. Her blue hair was dripping of water and her clothes soaking wet, but she didn't seem to mind. She was playing with a little bouncing ball like the rain didn't even exist. No matter how high she threw it, she caught it very time. It was almost like magic.  
For some she reminded me of a little street cat. Fast and gracious, with gold- brown eyes, and I wondered if she was a street kid.  
Suddenly I got an idea. No not an idea, it was more like a vision, a touch of destiny. She was the kid that had become my successor, the person I had been searching for ever since I realized I wasn't immortal. I didn't doubt she was a seeker, I could feel it. She was perfect.

"Zhalia, there you are!" A woman with curly brown hair, wearing a long black raincoat came walking along. "You mustn't walk away without telling me."

The woman was carrying a boy of about four years old, and with her free hand she grabbed the hand of the girl. "Let's go home." She said. "Your mom and dad will be home soon."

I figured this woman probably was a nursemaid or something like that. I left my dark hiding place and followed them unperceived. I'd had a vision of the future, and I was going to fulfill that vision, no matter what or who I had to adjust.  
XxXxXxXxXx

So I had murdered her parents with my favorite knife (ever since I had adjust my first obstacle knifes have been my favorite weapon) and had erased her memory (I couldn't use a kid that was missing her parents). First I had wanted to leave her brother behind, but then I devised he may could become useful for me, so I took him to. It had all been so easy. But is always is.  
And as always I had eliminated my traces carefully, so the police had never found out it was me. The police is truly nothing, just a delusion that makes people think they're safe. But they aren't. Their fate depends on people like me, they are delivered up to my mercy, they just don't know it yet. But they were going to know, soon.  
"Soon the whole world knows who truly is god…" I murmured.

Suddenly I remembered I wasn't alone. Dante Vale was here to.  
"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"About my genius plan." I said, and I knew I was going to tell him everything. "My plan to conquer the whole world with my army of mutated suits. The perfect suits. Strong, powerful, fast, disciplined and insensible to pain. But unfortunately they aren't perfect yet; as you may have noticed their bones break easily, and they still aren't forceful enough. So I need one more ingredient…" I paused for a dramatic moment. "And that is you."

I knew he was afraid now, though he didn't let it show. Everybody feared me, even the great Dante Vale.  
I continued my story. "You see, I've used the DNA of many seekers, good and evil, for my suits. And since you're the Foundation's top seeker you're DNA will be… the cherry on the cake."

"What? Is that all you need from me? Some DNA?" He asked.

I snickered. "Not just DNA, I need elementary cells from the bone marrow in your back. And a lot, so I'm afraid I have no other choice than to kill you."

_**Outside, at that moment**_

Sophie

I couldn't feel my toes anymore. Or my hands. Or my nose.  
I had never been so cold in all of my life.

"Are we there yet?" Lok asked for the thousandth time, while we ploughed through the snow. We were going uphill, which made our trip even harder. Thank god there was no wind.

"I have no idea Lok! Stop being so annoying!" I yelled, but I was too cold to get really angry with him.

"Guys! We're there!" Michael, who walked a few meters in front of us, yelled.

Lok and I quickly ran towards him. He was bending over behind the shrubs to stay out of sight. Carefully I glanced towards Klaus' house, and my mouth fell open. It wasn't a log cabin, and definitely not a castle, but an ultra- modern villa. It was big and white, with a flat roof and big but blinded windows. And it was very well- protected, there were camera's everywhere and two guards were leaning against the wall, smoking cigarettes. They were the only thing indicating that this was the house of one of the top- members of the Organization.

"Just great, how on earth are we going to come in unseen?" Michael whispered.

"I don't know." I whispered back. "You're the plot- man, why don't you think up something?"

"Hey you're the great smart Casterwell heiress who always gets straight A's! And besides, I've already done enough, without my brilliant computer- actions and superfast car we wouldn't be here!"

I snorted. "Don't be such a child Michael! This is not about who has done what, this is about saving Dante!" I was starting to get really pissed off, no matter how cold it was. Thankfully Lok interrupted our bickering.

"I think I've got a plan." He said. "You see those electricity pylons? The electric cables run above ground, if we cut them the cameras will go off!"

That wasn't a bad idea.  
"Okay, Michael and Lok, you two go cut those cables, I'll take care of those guards." I said. They nodded and disappeared into the woods.  
I got on all fours and crawled through the bushes, towards the guards. There was snow in my jacket and sharp braches were scratching my face but there were more important thing to worry about.  
After a few meters I was as close to them as possible, but there was still about twenty meters open terrain between us. _Think Sophie… !_

All of the sudden there was a loud cry. I recognized it immediately. _Oh no Lok! _The two guards had heard it. They dropped their cigarettes and walked cautiously in the direction the cry had come from.  
I realized this was my chance. _It's now or never! _And I approached them from behind.  
"Sleepforce!" I said. It was one of the ancient Casterwell spells I had discovered in the book of light. The two men turned around quickly but they were too late. There was a pink flash, and the two fell on the ground, deep asleep.  
I glanced nervously towards the cameras, and prayed Michael and Lok had already cut the electric cables.

_**Inside**_

Dante

I didn't want to give up hope, I didn't want to lose my faith in a happy ending, but I had. After Klaus had left to do god knows what, I allowed myself to get desperate. My brothers were never going to find me, and the door was locked from the other side and also electrified.  
I was going to die, and that realization made tremble. I wasn't afraid of death, but I just didn't want to die this way, as an addition to Klaus army. I preferred dying a painful death in combat, than a quick, painless, and dishonorable death in a Klaus' lab (if he was going to make it painless at all, which I highly doubted).

_And Zhalia… _I wished she was with me now, that I could hold her, and be with her one last time. There were so many things I wanted to say to her. But I was going to die here, without her knowing how much she really mend to me, how important she'd became for me the past week. _And what's going to happen to her? _Maybe she was dead already, I didn't know, but I couldn't believe that. The thought she may manage to get away was the only sparkle of hope I had left.

Darkness. For a brief second I thought I was dead, but the lights had just gone off.  
There was nothing but pitch- black darkness surrounding me, I was alone with the sound of my breathing and the pounding of my heart. I felt more desolate than ever.

**-  
Damn writing Klaus pov is harder than I'd thought :S I hope this chap was okay…. Plz let me know by REVIEWING! =D**

Next chap there will be more spy- action, dramatic drama and extreme emotions… (I'm kind of in a romantic mood, and by that I don't mean roses & candlelight romantic, but literary romantic xD) 


	12. Just like James Bond

**Chapter 12: Just like James Bond**

_**Outside Klaus' house**_

Sophie

The ice- cold air hurt my throat as I ran down the snowy hill, towards the electricity pylon. I made my way through the trees and bushes, until I saw a glimpse of black. I recognized Michael's coat, but didn't saw the blue of Lok's. Quickly I walked towards Michael. He was standing bent over a figure in blue. _Lok!_  
"Michael!" I yelled. "What happened?"

Michael looked over his shoulder. "Oh hi Sophie."

"W- what happened?" I asked again.

"Lok fell out of the electricity pylon." Micheal said. "But don't worry, he's alright; a bad penny always turns up." He said quickly when he saw my shocked face.

Lok moaned and sat up. "Darn that hurts…." He rubbed his head. I sat down on my knees and plucked the pieces of ice out of his hair. "Oh you're such a sad sack." I said, and I sighted. Sometimes he was like thé clumsiest person _ever. _But also the cutest one.

"Maybe but I _have_ cut the wires!" Lok said happily. "Well… ok actually Freelancer has cut them… but they're cut, that's what matters. "

I exhaled, relieved. That meant the cameras probably hadn't seen me.  
"Well done Lok." I said, and I helped him stand up. "And I've hit the guards with a sleep- spell so…"

"… it'sshowtime!" Michael finished my sentence.

_**Inside, a few minutes earlier  
**_  
Klaus

I closed the metal door of Mr. Vale's prison cell, and locked it. I wondered whether I was going to kill him first, and then Zhalia, or the other way round.  
I walked through the white hall, like I had done hundreds of times before. My lab here in Slovenia was my favorite one. It was remote, big, and the house above it was fully equipped.  
My feet automatically brought me to the hallway at the right angle to this one, where Zhalia's prison cell was. I stood still in front of her door, and opened it with my key.

She was sitting against the back wall, with an expressionless face, and didn't seem to notice my entry. Or she pretended not to notice.  
Apart from a few scorch marks on her clothes she looked the same as always. Though she was very pale, and her eye make- up a bit blurred, which told me that she, despite her unaffected attitude, was cut up by me indeed.  
I found it odd how I loved and hated her at the same time. But the hate was stronger, as always. And she was going to experience personally what that meant.

"Zhalia, Zhalia…" I said. "I'm sorry it has to end this way."

"No you don't." She said, still not looking at me.

A familiar feeling of irritation about the fact she always had to have the last word came over me. But before I could react, the lights suddenly went off. _What on earth?_  
"Boltflare." I said, and a yellowish sphere of light appeared, lightening up the room again. I looked around me suspiciously, but didn't see anyone except Zhalia.

"Have you forgotten to pay the electricity bill?" She asked with an undeniable amount of gloating in her voice.

"Silence!" I shouted. I had the strong feeling something wasn't right. _Or perhaps one of those idiotic guards has caused an electrical breakdown…_  
I left the room immediately, leaving Zhalia behind in the darkness. I had to solve this problem first, before I would deal with her. Fortunately I knew there had to be an emergency power unit here somewhere.

Dante

It took me a few seconds to realize that no electricity meant that the door wasn't electrified any more. Meaning that there now was a tiny little chance I could escape.  
In a burst of urge to survive I stood up, and inch by inch I slowly moved forward. It was so dark I couldn't even see the contours of the room. It felt like I was blind.  
Suddenly my foot hit something hard and solid; the wall. Carefully I moved alongside it, until I felt the cold metal of the door against my arm. I took a deep breath, took a few steps backwards, and tried to break through it with all my strength. Of course I could as well have tickled it with a little feather, because it didn't even had a scratch. A little voice in my head said that this was hurting me more than the door, but I ignored it, and continued.  
A few minutes and a lot of bruises later, I gave up. That door wasn't going to break, no matter what I did.  
I sighted, and sat down, with my back against the door, and stared into the black nothing, thinking absolutely nothing.

_**Outside**_

Lok

After putting on the typical Organization suits (with dark sunglasses of course) Sophie had brought in her backpack, we sneaked through the bushed to the back of the house. Though the cameras were off and the guards asleep, we tried to stay out of sight, in case anyone inside would see us.  
I felt just like some kind of James Bond.  
_The name is Vale. Lok Vale._

"Man, look over there! That dude's got a pool!" Michael whispered enthusiastically, disturbing my James Bond- spy fantasy.

I saw it to. The mist- like condensed air above the water surface indicated that the pool was heated. The idea of jumping into it was very tempting, but most certainly not a smart thing to do.

"Good for him." Sophie whispered sarcastically. "Now check if it's safe to go inside!" She whispered loudly, but quietly enough to still be whispering though.

I moved a branch, and glanced towards the backside of the house. Because the house was located on a hill, the pool was right under the big windows of the living room. And when I say big, I mean really, _really_ big; from the floor to the ceiling, and from the right wall all the way to the left.  
Brownish and grayish stone tiles formed a path from the pool to the wooden stairs, which led to an inconspicuous windowless white door, which had almost the exact same color as the house. I guessed that was the backdoor, which was probably locked and therefore not a good way to come in. I turned my attention to the windows again. The living room was sparsely furnished, and there was no one inside.

"Michael, you think what I think?" I whispered.

"If you're thinking: Let's take a break from our mission and jump into the pool, then yes."

Behind us Sophie snorted disapproving.

"No, I mean that our best chance is to go through the window."

"Yeah that was the second thought in my head."

"Let's go then, and quick" Sophie whispered. "God knows how much time Dante has left…."  
  
Sophie

"Hyperstride!"  
  
Nervously I watched how Michael jumped up, and grabbed the narrow stone ridge under the living room windows. Without any trouble he pulled himself up, so that he was standing on the ridge. If he would have been Lok, he probably would have fallen off it.

"Touchram!" He said, and green energy grinded the glass of the most left window to powder, with a way too loud clank. I prayed nobody had heard it.  
Michael stepped inside, and waved at us.

"Hyperstride!"Lok and I said in unison. In a split second we landed on the with glass- strewn floor.  
  
I was surprised how big the living room was, way bigger than it had seemed from outside. The only furniture was a big black couch against the grey painted left wall, a glass coffee table in front of it, and a flatscreen tv on the opposite wall. There were also a few creepy abstract paintings of human- like figures on the wall. But furthermore the room was empty and very impersonal.  
Suddenly my eye fell on the big wooden bookcase in a dark corner of the room. It didn't seem to fit in, and I was almost certain it was hiding an opening or something like that.

None of us dared to speak, so I moved my head towards the bookcase to let Michael and Lok know I found it suspicious. They nodded, and covered my back as I studied the bookcase. It was filled with old looking books about mythical stories and torturing. Cold shivers ran through my body.  
_Focus Sophie!  
_Old brownish books… old brownish books… more old brownish books… a blue book. I frowned. The book was very different from the others, and seemed brand- new. I grabbed it, convinced that a door would open or something like that, but nothing happened. I felt disappointed. _Had I been I been wrong? Is this just an ordinary bookcase?  
_I looked to the thick black letters on book cover. It was a time. _02:26_  
_What a weird title for a book…. _I flipped through the pages, but they were empty. I couldn't understand why somebody would put an empty book in his bookcase. _Unless… the contents don't matter…. it's all about the title! _  
_02:26…._ My mind worked at top speed. _2__nd__ shelve, 26__th__ book!  
_"2nd shelve, 26th book!" I said excitedly, making Michael and Lok throw nervous be- quite looks at me.  
I counted the books. _10, 20, 24, 25… 26! _It was a really thick brown book. Carefully I pulled it out and…. The bookcase opened like the doors of an elevator.  
_I had been right, as always! _I thought contently, but that happy feeling soon turned into fear, when thousandths of little black spiders came out of the opening. I wanted to scream but managed to control myself just in time.  
"Guys….." I said with a trembling voice.

Michael turned around "Have you found a secret entrance-" He said, but quickly shut his mouth when he saw the scary little creatures that were crawling towards us.

"Quick Sophie come over here!" He said. "Overshield!"

A big blue shield appeared, protecting us against the spiders. Within seconds they had covered almost the whole shield. Their little spider- fangs were trying to break it, and it seemed like it was working.  
"What kind of titan is this?" Lok asked.

"I don't think this is a titan, it's probably one of Klaus' experiments." I said. I knew enough of that creep to know this was typically something he would make.

"I don't care what they are just think up a way to destroy them, 'cauze I can't hold on to this much longer!" Michael said.

I saw little cracks appearing in the shield, and grabbed Lok's arm. My heart pounded like crazy and I felt a major panic- attack coming. I hated insects, and from all insects I hated spiders the most.  
" LOK DO SOMETHING!" I screamed.

"Ok- ok, l- let me think…. Ummm.. ummm… I've got it!" He said. "Michael, I'm going to make a gap in the shield, you must put your hand through it and summon Fireblade!"

Michael's seemed to know exactly what Lok was aiming for. "Good idea little bro." He said.

"Boltflare!" Lok yelled, and a bright yellowish flash followed.

"Fireblade!" Michael yelled, and a with fire surrounded ninja appeared outside the shield. In a big tornado of fire all the spiders died and disappeared.  
Michael broke down the shield, and Fireblade returned to its amulet.  
I exhaled relieved. This was probably thé most scariest thing I'd ever seen.

"Good work guys, now let's go into that not- bookcase." Michael said.

Lok

The small alley we entered was almost completely dark, so I summoned little light.

"There's a stairway." Sophie whispered, and she pointed forward. I also saw a elevator at the right, but I figured that would draw way to much attention (leaving the enormous amount of noise we had made in the living room out of consideration).

Michael went first, and Sophie and I followed him. It was so dark we couldn't see how far the stairway would go down, and I grabbed Sophie's hand. It felt like we were descending the stairway to hell or something like that.  
  
**-  
Sorry for the late update… my computer crashed, and since I'm a major computer- noob, it took me some time to repair it (read: it took my little brother some time to repair it xD) And of course there were also a lot of hooray- it's- Christmas- vacation- parties to celebrate =)**

Hope you enjoyed this new chappie :) Next chap they'll find Dante (finally!)  
Btw; the story's almost finished now (I think another 3 or 4 chapters), so stay tuned….. And REVIEW!  



	13. Oh crap

**Sorry, late update, again xD Can't help it, homework and other, more fun vacation activities seized most of my time, not to mention new year's eve (and the man with the hammer next morning :S autsj)  
Anyways, here's an extra- long chapter to make it up with you, woohoooo :D**

Chapter 13: Oh crap

Lok 

Accompanied by the dimmed light of my Boltflare we went 2 floors down, until we entered a big, U- shaped hallway. There was a large metal door right in front of us. I didn't think that was the place they were detaining Dante, but it seemed like an important room. I was curious what was behind the door, so I let go off Sophie's hand and walked towards it.

"Lok what are you doing?" Sophie whispered panicky. "You can't just go open doors, what if somebody's inside?"

I put my ear against the door and listened. I heard nothing. Carefully I pushed against the door. It wasn't locked. Inch by inch I opened it, and I glanced through the opening. To my great surprise there was light inside, but not from any lamps. "Oh my god…" Amazed I stepped inside, with Sophie and Michael on my heels.  
I heard them gasping for breath. They were just as stunned as I was. I had expected this room would contain something important, but I certainly hadn't expected something like this. The greyish blue room was really really big, and filled with all sorts of weird machines, and cabinets that were either locked or filled with documents and little glass tubes containing weird fluids. But that wasn't the most bizarre thing, that were the seven gigantic glass tube- like machines against the left wall. There were people in it, floating in a clear, luminous greenish yellow fluid. That fluid was the source of light I had seen.

Sophie grabbed my arm, pushing her nails into my arm. "Lok what the hell is this?" She asked anxiously.

"I don't know Sooph… I- I think they're suits." I said. The persons were, no matter how unnaturally tall and muscular, obviously human. Their eyes were closed and they wore a dark colored suit, just like normal Organization agents.

"Guys. We should leave." Michael said. "We have to find Dante and we have to keep on moving, it's not good to stay in one place for a long time, especially not in a place like this."

Sophie and I nodded and followed him back to the door through which we had entered.  
"Okay what now… left or right?" I asked to Michael.

He doubted. "Sophie what does your Casterwell- instinct says?" He asked.

"Ummm…. Right. I think we have to go right."

We went around the corner and walked through the right corridor. We passed a white door, and stood still.  
"I guess we have to try to open it right?" I asked.

Sophie bit on her lower lip nervously but nodded. "We have to try all doors if we want to find Dante."

I opened it as quietly as possible. It wasn't locked, so Dante probably wasn't there. Still I glanced through the opening. It was just some kind of refreshment room. Though it was really I dark I could see a kitchen sink, refrigerator, table and chairs. My hard skipped a bit when I saw somebody sitting on one of the chairs. It was a suit, but he was sleeping, with his head on the table.  
I softly closed the door again, and shook my head negatively. Michael sighted. "On to the next one then."

The next door we opened was made of metal, and led to an empty room of about five by five meter. It looked some kind of prison cell.  
The following three doors led to a similar room. A drop of sweat ran down my spine. _How big is this place?_

"Out of my way!" I almost had a heart attack when two suits suddenly came out of the dark and walked pass us hastily. They were both holding a little Boltflare- flame, and we all quickly looked down in an attempt to hide our face as well as possible, but it wasn't necessary. The two suits didn't pay any attention to us. From a distance we looked like normal suits and the two were in too much of a hurry to notice we actually weren't.

"Holy fuck…!" Michael said when the suits were out of sight, and he exhaled relieved. "I really thought we were dead now."

I tried to calm my pounding heart as we walked further down the corridor. There was another metal door on our right hand. Michael tried to open it, but it was locked. We needed the key to open it. _Could it be…?  
_  
"Let me." Sophie said, and she held her hand in front of the door lock. "Farslip!"

At first the lock lightened up pink, but then the light turned black and disappeared.  
"But-" Sophie tried to open the door but failed. It was still locked. "Oh darn, that creep has cursed the door, my magic can't open it."

Micheal moaned. "Just great."

Suddenly I got an idea, and I pulled one of my amulets out of my pocket.  
"Ha! Let's see if that creep has taken Springer in account! Help us Springer!"

In a flash of purple the little brownish three- tailed titan appeared. He touched the lock with his tale and there was a clicking sound. Sophie tried to open the door again, but this time she succeeded.

"Thanks Springer!" I said, and he returned to its amulet.

"Sophie?" A familiar voice I hadn't heard in a long time said.

"Dante!" We said in unison.

Michael

I could barely believe it, but there he was; my lost brother, alive and well. Lok and Sophie immediately ran towards him and hugged him. I realized we were still in hostile area, so I closed the door behind us and summoned a Boltflare. It floated towards the ceiling and lightened up the room like a lamp.

"Oh my god Dante you're alright… we've found you… I knew we would…" Sophie and Lok said happily.

"Guys, give Dante some room to breathe." I said.

Dante smiled. "Some room to move would be nice as well." He said, and I saw his hands were tied behind his back. Fortunately I always had my super- handy 100- tool pocket knife with me, and I cut the ropes.

"Thanks Michael." Dante said, and he rubbed his probably painful wrists. "But please explain me why the hell you're here?"

I smiled. "What? You didn't think we'd give up on you that easily did you?"

"You shouldn't be here. It's way too dangerous."

I snickered. "Wow, soooo much gratefulness, it's unbelievable."

"You would have done the same for any of us!" Lok said.

Dante smiled. "Without any hesitation…. but… how on earth did you find me?"

We all started talking disorderly.  
"I hacked the Organization's computer…"  
"We knocked out that Swedish suit…."  
"… so I went undercover and found out…."  
"I pretended I had to use the bathroom!"  
"He said some woman named Zhalia had kidnapped you…."  
"You should see my car! It's all scratched and there's a wing window missing!"  
"… anyway she turned out to be Klaus' daughter…"  
"I found the ancient Casterwell book of light!"  
"The spell said we had to go to Slovenia…."  
"It was freaking cold!"  
"I cut the wires and Michael crushed a window…."  
"… you know the creepy dude's got a pool!"  
"Suddenly there were spiders everywhere!"  
"We found a weird lab- like room with suits in formaldehyde…"  
"…. It was locked so I called Springer…"  
"And now we're here."

Dante didn't seem to know whether to be happy or angry. "I can't believe you've done all of this to find me…You guys are amazing. But stupid."

We all froze when we heard voices outside the prison. We remained silent until the voices weakened and died away.  
"We have to go, and quick, before they find out something's wrong." Sophie said.

"Wait, we can't leave yet!" Dante said.

We all looked at him confusedly.  
"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I'm not leaving without Zhalia!"

There was a moment of silence.  
"Wait… are you talking about the woman who kidnapped you?" Lok asked stunned.

"Yes… no… I'm mean, it's complicated alright." Dante said frustrated. "We have to find her!"

"No!" Sophie yelled. "Dante that's insane we've got no time for that!"

This was super ultra- weird. I wondered if Dante suffered from the Stockholm syndrome, but rejected that idea immediately; he had only been abducted for a week or something like that (though it felt like a year). _Maybe they've brainwashed him… yeah that's probably it…  
_"Dante, you're confused." I said. "They've obviously brainwashed you. Just come with us, and when we're home we'll find a way to make you normal again."

"There's nothing wrong with me!" He yelled. "I- I care for Zhalia." He said, softer now. "Yes she has abducted me, but she wanted to let me go, and then Klaus came with his suits, and… well it's a long story, too long. But you have to believe me, Zhalia isn't bad. Klaus is the bad guy."

He had a pleading, yet determined glance in his eyes I had never seen before. He really wasn't going to leave without her. I sighted. Maybe it was true what he said, maybe he was crazy, but I realized that finding Zhalia would now be probably even faster than determine Dante to come with us without her.  
"Fine." I said. "But if it's not true what you say I'm going to kill you bro."

"I believe you Dante." Lok said.

Dante smiled relieved. "Thanks guys."

"No!" Sophie yelled. "Why isn't anybody listening to me? This is insane!"

"Ah well, this whole week's been insane, a little bit more insanity won't hurt." I said, and I opened the door. "Let's go find your chick Dante."

Zhalia

I wondered what had happened to the electricity. _Maybe there's a storm outside… or maybe one of the suits has caused an electricity breakdown… _It didn't really matter, all Klaus's labs had an emergency power unit so the problem would be solved soon.  
I sighted nervously. Though I wasn't afraid of the dark, I felt a bit uncomfortable. I also had the weird feeling something big was going to happen, and for the thousandth time I wished Dante was here with me. I had never felt so alone in all of my life.

Suddenly I heard voices murmuring outside. _Suits?  
_There was a clicking sound, and the door opened. I jumped up.  
"Zhalia!" A voice which I thought I'd never hear again said.

"D- Dante?" I said with a trembling voice.  
Within less than a second I felt his strong arms around me.  
"Thank god you're okay." He whispered in my ear.  
Tears were streaming down my face. I couldn't believe he was here, it had to be an illusion, a dream, but the warmth I felt just couldn't be fake. He was really here.  
He wiped my tears away with his hand and I smiled. I looked in his beautiful deep brown eyes and kissed him.  
Suddenly I felt something moving behind me and I quickly looked over my shoulder. A Blond guy I'd never seen before was cutting the ropes that tied my hands behind my back.  
"Don't mind me." He said, and he grinned.

I realized there were more unfamiliar persons inside; a short- haired blond boy and a red-haired girl. They both seemed to feel very uncomfortable.

"There ya go." The blond guy behind me said.  
He had freed my hands and I rubbed my red and painful wrists. "Thanks, but who are you?"

"Zhalia, this is my brother Michael." Dante said, and Michael winked at me. "And those two over there are my other brother; Lok, and his girlfriend; Sophie."

Lok smiled brightly and shook my hand. Sophie did the same, though her eyes emanated suspiciousness and animosity.  
I didn't really know what to think of Michael, but I already liked Lok. He seemed friendly though maybe a bit naïve. I didn't really like the girl. That feeling was probably mutual.

"We have to leave now guys, and quick." Michael said.

"Wait, are you having some kind of plan?" I asked. "Because entering this place is a lot easier than leaving."

"Well…. No." Michael said. "We're improvising. But it's going to be alright. We're the good guys, and the good guys always win."

I doubted about that, and exchanged a worried look with Dante. I knew he wasn't as optimistic as his brother.

Michael opened the door and we entered hallway. Just a few seconds later it was suddenly filled with merciless white light. The fluorescents on the ceiling had gone on again. That meant the electricity was working again. And that was most certainly not a good thing.

"Oh crap." Sophie said.

-**  
So what do you think? Am I going to let them walk out the lab without any trouble or am I going to give the story another dramatic twist? :P**

REVIEW if you want to make my day! ;)


	14. Worlds crushing down

**Chapter 14: Worlds crushing down**

Lok

"Okay guys… I think we should go to the exit as soon as possible." I said, with a slightly trembling voice when I noticed little camera's on the ceiling.

We ran towards the end of the white hallway, when all of the sudden three suits blocked the way. Two of them I recognized as the ones who had walked pass us earlier.  
"This is the end Foundation- scum!" The left one said, and his hands glowed up green.

"I don't think so." Dante said. "Darkfog!"

"Touchram!" The three suits shouted in unison.

Covered by the thick dark smoke we ran back down the hallway, away from the suits, while the spells were flying overhead.

"Follow me!" Zhalia said. "There's one other way out."

We followed her through the labyrinth of hallways, until we reached a small white door. It was locked and I wanted to invoke Springer, but before I had even pulled the amulet out of my pocket Zhalia had already kicked the door down. The room we entered next was to my great surprise the big lab- like hall we had seen in the beginning. While Dante sealed the white door with Stopglue, I looked around. I had the weird feeling something had changed. Of course the lights were on now, but there was more… _but what?_  
Suddenly I saw it. The seven gigantic tube- like machines against the left wall were empty. Well, not exactly empty, the luminous green fluid was still there, but the persons who had been floating in it weren't. My blood curdled in my veins. _This can't be a good sign…  
_Before I could point out to the others that the big creepy suits were gone, the metal door all the way across the hall opened. Five 'normal' suits entered, followed by the seven freaky ultra- big suits. They reminded me a bit of the hulk, because their skin looked slightly green. _Never really liked that movie…._

"Oh no…" Sophie said. I looked her bright green eyes and saw my own fear reflected in hers. If you counted those hulk- suits as two, it was going to be nineteen against five. I'm not really a math genius but even I could calculate that our odds of winning were very small.

"Great we're outnumbered as hell…" Michael muttered.

"There's no way you can win this fight." One of the suits said. "So if you surrender now, no one will get hurt…"

"No way pal!" Michael yelled.  
We all got into battle position, as a sign none of us was going to surrender without a fight.

"Come on guys, we can win this!" I said optimistically.

The suits laughed. "Keep on dreaming little boy!"

The logical- thinking part of my brain agreed with the suits, but in my heart I was convinced that it would be alright in the end. _It's going to be alright… it just can't end like this!_

"Enforcer!" "Sekhmet!" "Ammit Heart-Eater!" The five normal suits invoked their titans. I wondered why the hulk suits didn't summon theirs. Maybe they couldn't. _Or maybe they just don't need them…  
_  
I quickly took my titans out of my pocket and invoked Freelancer, Soulwing, and Baselaird, while Michael invoked his Freelancer, Soulwing, and Fireblade.  
Sophie had summoned Sabriel, Feyone and Icarus.

"Dante why don't you invoke your titans?" I asked, but as soon the words had left my mouth I knew the answer. "Oh dammit, Klaus has taken them, hasn't he?"

Dante nodded. Anger flashed in his eyes. I knew he couldn't stand his titans were in the hand of that psycho Klaus.  
"He has taken mine as well…. But that doesn't mean we can't fight." Zhalia said with an icy voice.

"That's right, get them Freelancer!" Michael yelled, and Freelancer pierced down a Sekhmet. Within seconds the room turned into it a complete chaos of flying spells, people and titans.

I saw Sophie was having trouble with one of the hulk- suits, and rushed towards her to help her.  
"Raypulse!" My attack hit the suit right in his face, but he barely seemed to notice, and kept on trying to break Sophie's shield.  
"On no you don't…" I muttered. "Bristlevine!" Thorny vines grew out of the floor and wrapped around the suit. He growled furiously and tried to free himself. _That will keep him busy for a while…_

I ran to Sophie. "Are you okay Sooph?" I asked. She nodded.  
All of the sudden another hulk- suit appeared out of nowhere. He hit Sophie with his gigantic fist, and she crushed into the wall.  
"Sophie!"

"Augerfrost… " The hulk- suit growled with an inhumanly low voice.

"Armorbrand!" I was just in time, but was still blown a few feet backwards by the power. These suits were unbelievably strong. I rubbed my head und stood up. The suit was standing right in front of me, with an evil grin on his face, ready to finish me. Thankfully Zhalia appeared behind him. She distracted the suit by hitting him with some spell I didn't recognize, and he turned around. He clenched his fists and tried to hit her with all his strength, but she evaded the attack and kicked him in his sensitive parts harshly. The suit fell on his knees woefully, and I laughed. _Ha! Even those creeps have a weak spot…!_

I remembered Sophie, and ran towards her. She was sitting on the ground, blood streaming out of the wound on the back of her head, but still conscious. I just wanted to help her up when all of the sudden there was a loud clanging sound. The sound of glass breaking. I looked around and saw that the glass of two of the big tube- like machines was broken. The thick, luminous green fluid inside it gushed over the floor. It didn't seem like a very big deal to me, but the suits stopped fighting, with a disturbingly scared look on their face.  
"Fuck! One spark and this place will!" One of them yelled. I realized that stuff had to be extremely toxic and highly flammable. I glanced nervously to the increasingly becoming bigger pool on the floor. "Everybody stop fighting!" The suit yelled, but it was already too late.

Fireblade fired a beam of flames towards an Enforcer. A little spark of fire landed on the fluid, and with a deafening bang the world turned into a living hell of fire, smoke, and rock. I grabbed Sophie's hand and closed my eyes, expecting pain and destruction. I vaguely felt somebody pushing us down on the ground. Heat, dust, screaming and energy surrounded me.  
And then there was nothing. I was convinced I was dead, but then realized that dead people can't think they're dead. I was still breathing and my heart was still beating, meaning that I couldn't possibly be dead.  
I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the floor next to Sophie, with Zhalia half on top of us. We were surrounded by faint glowing blueness. Zhalia had used Armourbrand to protect us against the explosion. We all sat up, trembling, panting and a bit scorched, but still alive.  
"W- what happened?" Sophie asked.

I embraced her, and buried my face in her strawberry hair. "It's alright Sooph...we're still alive."  
_But Dante… Michael… _I didn't dare to think of them. _  
_  
Zhalia called off the shield and we stood up, realizing how lucky we had been to be in the corner off the room, far away from the explosion. The smoke and dust burned off slowly, revealing the remaining's of the hall. It was barely a hall anymore; rather a battlefield of stone and fire. The ceiling had collapsed and the whole floor above this one had crashed down, making an enormous pile of broken stones and god knows what more, meters high.  
"Dante... Michael… no!" I couldn't believe it. They couldn't be buried underneath the stones. They couldn't be dead.

Sophie fell on her knees, sobbing, and I felt tears streaming down my face as well. Through the haze of tears I glanced to Zhalia. She was standing there unmoved like a statue, her face an expressionless mask, but with hurt and disbelieve in her with tears filled eyes.  
I don't know how long we stood there, maybe minutes, maybe hours, until the sound of moving stone broke the silence. My eyes searched the ravage, looking for a sign of life. But it wasn't the sign I had been hoping for. One of the hulk- suits was struggling to free himself from the broken stones. His face was a half- burned, bloody mess, but he was still alive. And he wasn't the only one. More mutilated suits appeared, like zombies digging their way up from the grave.

Zhalia

_We got to get out of here! _My survival instinct screamed, but my body wouldn't listen. My heart was torn. The first man, no; the first _person_ I had ever loved, was gone.  
_You owe it to him! You owe it to them! _And that thought was the only thing that kept me from breaking down, and forced me to find a way to escape from this god forsaken place. Not to safe my ass, but to safe theirs. I had to safe Lok and Sophie. I owed it to Dante. Without me they hadn't even been here. _Without me he hadn't been here… _I bit on my lower lip and suppressed my upwelling tears. I had to be strong for those kids.

"We have to go! Now! This is our only chance!" I grabbed Sophie's arm and pulled her up. She didn't even resist. It was like pulling up a broken doll.  
"Lok, come!" I grabbed his arm as well, but he resisted, and tried to pull himself free.

"No!" He cried. "Maybe they're still alive! We have to go search for them!"

"It's too late Lok, they're dead! The suits are coming! We have to go!" I dragged him and Sophie towards the white door. Well it wasn't exactly a door anymore; the explosion had faded it away almost completely. What was left of it was burning.  
I dragged Sophie and Lok through the half- ruined, with dusk filled hallways. It was hard to breathe, my clothes were burned and torn, I had bruises everywhere, and I heard a constant tweet in my ears (probably hearing loss caused by the explosion), accompanied by the loud beeping of the lab's alarm system. But I kept going like a machine, a robot. I had turned off all my emotions, all my pain, and dragged Lok and Sophie through dozens of hallways, until we reached the stairway. It was thankfully entirely made of metal, and therefore still intact. I climbed the stairs with Lok and Sophie on my heels.

We went two floors up, until we reached a heavy door. I pushed it open, and we entered a dark room that looked like living room. Apart from some cracks in the walls, floor, and ceiling, it was completely intact. I looked at Lok and Sophie. Their faces were dull and beaten. "Okay umm…" I tried to think but it felt like my brains were fried. "I've got to get you away from here… how did you-"

The sound of somebody clearing his throat interrupted me. I didn't even have to turn around to know who standing behind me.  
"Klaus…" I whispered, and I turned around. Lok and Sophie gasped for breath.

He was standing in front of the big windows. The backlight of the night- sky and the pool lights made him look like nothing more than a dark, faceless shadow.  
"Zhalia, Zhalia… I'm disappointed." He said with a hoarse voice. "You blow up my lab… destroying my research; my life work… And you think you can just walk out like this?" He laughed. "No, you're going to pay, and those bold teenagers who have sneaked into my house as well."

"You leave them alone!" I yelled. "They've done no harm to you."

"I'll decide about that." He said. "By the way, where's Dante Vale?"

Klaus saying his name felt like a burning knife was being pierced through my heart. "He- he's dead." I tried to say the words as emotionless as I possibly could.

"Well that's the only good news of tonight…."

I hated Klaus so much I saw a red gaze in front my eyes. I wanted to rip him apart piece by vicious piece.

"But I think I'm going to enjoy your death even more…" He said.

"Lok, Sophie, go, I'll keep him busy." I said, without taking my eyes of Klaus.

"B- but Zhalia, you can't defeat him all by yourself." Lok said.

"I know, but we probably can't defeat them with the three of us either." I said.

"No! Zhalia, we're not going to leave you behind!" Lok yelled.

"Come on Lok." Sophie said, and she grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door.

"But Sophie, she'll die…" Lok said.

"She knows." Sophie said.

"How touching." Klaus growled. "But you're not going to leave either! Poisonfang!"

"Armourbrand!" I jumped in front of Sophie and Lok. "Leave, quick!" I yelled, and Lok and Sophie disappeared into the hallway. I exhaled relieved. They would find a way to get out. They would survive. But Dante hadn't, and neither had his other brother. _I'm so sorry Dante… _

"You're not my daughter anymore." Klaus said murderously.

"I've never been…" I whispered, and I smiled a little bitter laugh. I finally knew what meant to be ready to die.

**-  
Mwuhaha cliffhanger! xD  
I hope this chapter didn't depress you… it kind of depressed me to be honest :/  
So what do you think, are D and M really dead? And what will happen to Zhalia?**

**Please review sweet readers! Then I'll give you a virtual cookie…. No, even better; a virtual chocolate cake! :D**


	15. Righteousness

**So… this is going to be the last chap! And it's a very long one, so prepare, and grab a bag of crisps! (Or carrots if you want to do the healthy thing! ^^)**

**When I looked back to the reviews I noticed it seems like everybody expects it's going to end well for everyone…. We'll see if you're right or not…**

**Chapter 15:** **Righteousness**

Dante

"Boltflare…" As soon as I had whispered the words a little flame appeared in my hand. I analyzed my situation. It was pretty desperate. I was still alive, but that was pretty much it. I had used Armorbrand just in time not to be swept away by the explosion, but I now was buried, with shield and all, underneath tons of broken stone.  
_Great, I'm buried alive… _  
Dying of thirst and starvation didn't seem very inviting to me. Then I realized the amount of oxygen here was limited, so I would suffocate within a few hours.  
_Zhalia… Michael, Lok, Sophie…  
_I had no clue what had happened to them. I prayed they had managed to safe themselves, somehow. They just had to.  
_Dammit I've got to get out of here! _  
I needed to know whether they were still alive or not. Maybe they were wounded or buried just like me. If they were they needed my help, now.  
_But I'm stuck... How on earth am I goanna get out of here? _  
I couldn't call off the shield, if I did I would be smashed immediately. All my other powers were useless as well, and I didn't have any titans, Klaus took them all… _Except one!  
_I wanted to smack myself, how could I've forgotten that I had put Metagolem in my shoe at Zhalia's place? I blamed it on the lack of oxygen down here, and quickly pulled the amulet out of my shoe. I thanked my lucky stars I always think forward, this amulet was going to save my life. At least I hoped so. I figured that if I invoked Metagolem two things could happen. One: He'll crush me. Two: He'll break the shield and the layer of stone above it and I'll be able to get out of here. Since it didn't really have I choice I decided to risk it.  
"Metagolem!"  
A string of yellow light appeared. It grew larger and larger until the shield shattered. I pulled myself against the ground as the light blew away the stone above me with the sound of a second explosion. I felt small pieces of rock fall on top of me but couldn't do anything but lay still until it was over.  
When a deep silence fell, and I tilted my head. I couched, there was dust everywhere. As the dust burned off, I got on my feet. I smiled relieved when I saw I was standing in the middle of a crater, with Metagolem standing next to me.  
He asked me telepathically whether I was alright, and I nodded. _You've done a hell of a job Metagolem, thanks._  
After I had wiped the dust off my coat, I climbed my way out of the crater. The devastation of the room was even greater than I'd thought. I ignored the voice in my head that said that the chances that the others hadn't survived were high.

I turned myself to Metagolem. "Metagolem, help me search for survivors."

I started moving pieces of Rock, while calling my friends' names. Just when I was starting to loose courage, I heard a feint voice.  
"Dante?"

"Michael?" I made my way through the chaos into the direction of brother's voice. I saw him lying on the ground, his skin covered with small burning wounds and his right leg stuck underneath what seemed to be a piece of the ceiling.  
I crouched down next to him. He was panting and sweating, obviously in a lot of pain.  
"Don't worry, I'm goanna free you…" I said, and tried to move the big piece of stone off his leg. He screamed of pain.

Suddenly Metagolem's big hand appeared. He tilted the stone off Michael effortless. I felt a wave of nausea when I saw how horrible his leg looked. It was barely recognizable as a leg any more. Another moan of pain escaped Michael's throat.  
"Keep still Michael, I'll try to heal you…" Everfight could be used on others than yourself, but it was extremely hard and would never have as much effect as when you'd do it yourself. "Michael, you have to help me with this, you think can you do that?"  
Michael nodded.

"Everfight!" I said, as I held my hands above the wounded leg. I saw Michael's lips forming the word as well.  
A bright golden light appeared. When the light faded away again I saw the wound had closed. His leg looked like a leg again, and not some bloody ripped thing from a horror movie. But it still hadn't healed fully. Michael sat up, visibly still in pain.

"How do you feel? Can you stand?" I asked.

"Ugh… better… I- I think I can stand…" He said with hoarse voice, as he tried to stand up. I saw he couldn't do it by himself, so I put his arm around my shoulder and pulled him up.  
"T- the others…?"

"Haven't found them yet…" I said, and a felt a flash of pain in my heart. _No, they're not dead, they can't be…_

Suddenly I heard the sound of moving stones. I immediately turned myself in the direction of the sound, and saw a big human- like figure appearing from out of the shadows. Well, human… the figure looked more like something out of a nightmare; half- burned and blooded, more zombie than man. With shock a realized it was one of Klaus mutated suits. _Don't those freaks ever die?  
_I realized they probably didn't.

"Great, j-just fucking great…" Michael moaned as more zombie- suits appeared. "Dante… we- we've got to get out of here…"

"But Zhalia…"

"N- no time… for that…got to go now… maybe they're-" He couldn't finish his sentence because of a cough, but I understood what he had wanted to say. _Maybe they've escaped on their own, maybe they're gone already…_

I made up my mind and looked around, searching for a way to get out of here, as the zombie- suits came closer. I spotted the big metal door that lead to the stairway. The door was still intact but the wall wasn't.  
"Metagolem, stop those suits!"  
Metagolem's enormous foot tried to smash the suits. I didn't want see how it ended, and I had no time for that either, getting Michael safe was the most important thing now. I dragged him through the battlefield of stone, trying to spare his injured leg as much as possible.  
"Dragonfist!" My fist broke easily through the weakened wall, making a hole big enough for me and Michael to fit through. To my great relieve the stairway was still whole as well, and we slowly climbed it. With every step Michael hissed of pain.  
"Hold on brother, we're almost there…" I said. In the back of my mind I wondered what 'there' was, and who or what we would encounter at that place.  
_**  
Sometime earlier**_

Zhalia

"I am going to enjoy this…" Klaus said murderously. He reminded me of a snake, vile and poisonous. "It's almost a pity you're already in such a bad condition; it's not really a challenge now." He grinned.

I hated to admit it but he was right. I could barely stand on my legs. I was tired, thirst burned in my throat like fire and my body was bruised and weakened by Klaus' torturing, the fight with the suits and the explosion. It was pure hate and adrenaline that kept me upright. That, and the desire to find the answer to the question that had been possessing my mind for months now.  
"Where is my brother?"

Klaus smiled. "Isn't that obvious? He's dead."

"But…" It couldn't be. It just couldn't all have been for nothing. _Dante... _I kidnapped him for nothing, he _died _for nothing. Nothing but my on desperation fed figments. How could I've been so stupid? I should have known every word that leaves Klaus' mouth is a sick, twisted lie.  
"You've lied to me!"

"O dear, what a surprise." I hadn't thought I could hate him more than I did already but I was wrong.

Tears of hate and grief welled up in my eyes but I blinked them away. I wasn't going cry in front of Klaus, that pleasure I begrudged him.  
"Ho- how did he die?" I asked with a trembling voice. I had to know before I died myself.

Klaus' smile turned into a frown. I realized my brother's death wasn't something he had wanted. "He died when he was ten, during one of my experiments. You see, he wasn't a seeker, unlike you, and I wanted to know whether I could change that or not… The answer turned out to be no." I saw in his eyes he was hurt by his own failure and I couldn't help but laugh, though it wasn't funny at all. Actually nothing had ever been less funny, but still I laughed, partly because I knew it was making Klaus furious, partly because it was either laughing or crying.

"Don't you dare laughing at me!" Klaus growled. "You, who is at my mercy."

A weird remark since he didn't know any mercy.

"Augerfrost!" He said, as his hand glowed up icy blue.

I reacted immediately. "Touchram!"

Our spells hit each other midway, but Klaus' spell was stronger and hit me anyway. I managed to keep standing, and threw another spell at him. He blocked it simply, and barely a second later something hard and cold hit my chest with so much power that I crushed into the wall. I felt a fierce twinge of pain in the back of my head and for a moment I saw little dancing white dots.  
I gasped for breath when a hand pulled me up and pinned me to the wall. The pressure on my throat made me feel light in my head.

"Is this all there is?" The words sounded vague and far away. Even though Klaus' face was wrapped in shadows, it was close enough for me to see every detail of it, even the merciless hate and anger that was burning in his dark brown eyes.

Klaus

"Is this all there is?" I asked with a slightly disappointed voice. It was such a shame she was so weak, because I knew what she was capable of. After all I had trained her myself, every move, every spell…

"What a shame it has to end this way…" With my right hand against her throat I kept her pinned against the wall, while my left hand gently stroke the midnight- blue hair out of her face. Her eyes were closed and she was heavily gasping for oxygen. Her nails were scratching my hand but I barely felt it. For a brief moment I got lost in my memories.  
"Such a waste…"

I could end it now but that would be no fun at all. I released grip on her throat and pushed her to right harshly. With a cry she fell on the ground.  
"Fight back!"

She threw me a glance filled with hate and tried to stand up.  
"Too slow…" I whispered, and walked towards her. "Augerfrost!" I fired the spell to her legs from very close. She screamed in pain, and I knew I had probably broken them.  
"Poisonburn..." I used my self- invented pain spell. A new cry of pain escaped her throat.  
"What did you say…?" I asked, grinning evilly, when I heard her mumble something.

"I… said… fuck… you…" She whispered, almost inaudible.

I laughed. "Your insults can't hurt me…"  
I said the spell a few more times until she didn't even had the power to scream any more. I saw she was almost losing conscious, so I grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet again. I dragged her towards the window.

"Farewell Zhalia…" I said. "I'm sorry it had to end this way."

Her dead, expressionless brown eyes looked me straight in the eye. "No you're not…" She whispered with a hoarse voice, and she smiled a little bitter laugh.

_Matter a fact I really am… _With that one last thought in my mind, I threw her against the window. The thin glass broke and fell through it, soundless, apart from the soft clanging sound of breaking glass.

A soft evening breeze blew through the broken windows. _It's a beautiful night… _I thought, as I walked towards the windows. I looked up at the sky. Countless starts were shining, as well as the almost full moon. When I looked down, I saw the body of the woman who I once considered as my daughter slowly sink to the bottom of the pool. She looked peaceful, her eyes were closed and her skin almost seemed to glow in the light of the pool lamps. I tried to feel no emotion but failed.

Zhalia

The world was nothing but pain. I knew it would be over soon so I closed my eyes and waited. When I felt a hand dragging me up from the floor again, I opened my eyes. The world was turning and blinking. Waves of pain, dizziness and nausea gushed through my body, but I forced myself to remain conscious. I looked at Klaus' face one last time but couldn't get my vision clear. His head was just a pale oval shape and his eyes black holes.  
"Farewell Zhalia…" I thought I heard him speak but I could just as well be hearing voices in my head. "I'm sorry it had to end this way."

"No you're not… " My own voice scared me, it was a weird rough sound. I felt the odd urge to laugh again.

A new wave of pain was followed by the unrealistic feeling of something warm and wet surrounding me. _Water…  
_I realized I should swim to the surface, but I couldn't. The force that was pulling me down was stronger than the strength I had left in my limbs. Perhaps I didn't even want to swim to surface, and face pain, loss and regret again. I had nothing to live for any more and dying felt even better than I had imagined. It didn't feel like cold hands were strangling you, but like warm loving arms, pulling you softly down into the forgetfulness. I saw bright light before my eyes and my mind was cloudless and empty. I was happy.

Dante

When we finally got upstairs the sweat was dripping down my spine. I pushed the already half opened door open with my back, and entered a shady room. My heart dropped when I saw Klaus standing at the end of the room, in front of big windows. Michael, who had never met Klaus, made a sound that was best to define as some crossing between a gasp for breath and a 'holy shit'.  
Of course Klaus heard it and turned around immediately. For a moment he looked at me like I was a ghost, but he recovered quickly.  
"Who would have thought that… Dante Vale, don't you ever die?"

"Not if I can help it." I answered. "Touchram!" I fired a spell at him, while still holding Michael.

"Shadowspeed!" Klaus evaded the attack and jumped next to us. "Poisonfang!"  
Though I knew it would hurt him, I pushed Michael aside and let the spell hit me.

"Venomhand." Klaus slowly walked towards me, his hands glowing green. "I want this to be over as soon as-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Freelancer somehow appeared behind him, and stabbed him in his back. It happened so fast and yet so slow. Shocked I watched how Klaus fell on his knees, gasping for breath as blood dripped out of his mouth.  
Just when I wondered what the hell had happened, I saw Lok, who was holding his Freelancer amulet, and Sophie standing in the doorway. The happiness I felt when I realized they were unharmed disappeared immediately when I noticed Zhalia wasn't with them.  
"W- where's Zhalia?" I asked, my voice trembling for I reason I didn't know and didn't wanted to know either.

Lok's face darkened and he looked to the broken windows, the sudden fearful expression in his eyes said more than thousandth words. My mind needed less than a second to figure what had happened. I jumped up, ran to the windows and jumped down into the pool without hesitation.  
I swam towards the shadow at the bottom of the pool that was Zhalia, and brought her to the surface as fast as I could. I swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out of it with Zhalia in my arms. The air was freezing cold and my body was shivering, but I couldn't care less, as laid Zhalia down on the tiles. Her eyes were closed and her lips were turning blue, but I refused to think of what that could mean. She just couldn't be dead.  
"Zhalia? Zhalia please talk to me!"  
I held my trembling hand against her neck, trying to feel a heartbeat. But I couldn't feel a thing. I desperately tried to remember the rules for emergency procedures, but my mind was frozen, shrouded in tears, just as my eyes.  
_Calm down Dante, it's not too late, just do something!  
_I started to give her a heartmassage, alternated with mouth- to- mouth.  
_28, 29, 30- please Zhalia, please breath…  
_I didn't know how long I had been doing this but it felt like ages, and my fear that it wasn't enough was growing by the second. I could only think of one thing left to do.  
I put my hands on her chest. "Everfight!"  
A bright golden light spread from my fingertips through her body. _Come on, come on…  
_"Everfight!" I let all the energy I had left flow to her body, until my head became light and the pressure unbearable. As the golden light fading away, I pressed my lips against hers, forcing her to breath.  
When I slowly pulled back she suddenly gasped for breath.  
"Zhalia…?"  
I saw her fingers moving and I grabbed her hand. Something warm and moist rolled down my cheek. I could now see her breathing, I could feel her heart beating. Somewhere far away sounded the voices of Lok and Sophie, but their words didn't got through to me.  
"Zhalia, oh thank god…"  
Even though she was still unconscious I embraced her, and I didn't ever wanted to let her go.

Zhalia

_"Doctor, how is she?"_

_"Not very well, her left leg is broken at several places, her ribs bruised, she has a light concession of the brain and also high fever."_

_"But she'll get better, right?"_

_"Yes, she'll probably fully recover, just like your brother."_

I didn't know whether the two voices in my head were real or not. The edge between dream and real life was vague. Sometimes I would hear Klaus' voice, sometimes Dante's, and sometimes unfamiliar voices, belonging to people had never met or just couldn't remember.  
Sometimes I could swear I felt somebody holding my hand or stroking my face, but frustrating thing was that whenever I tried to speak or move nothing happened. I couldn't even open my eyes, every time I tried I instantly floated back into the soft darkness. _  
_  
A melodious high sound woke me up from another dream. _It's a bird…  
_Instead of darkness I saw a bright red light in front of my eyes, and I felt something warm on my face. _Sun…  
_I opened my eyes, and found myself looking at a big white surface. _A ceiling…  
_I realized I was lying in a bed, with a respiratory mask and a drip in my arm. _I'm in a hospital…? How on earth did I end up here?  
_I sat up, despite my heavily protesting limbs, and examined my surroundings. It didn't look like a regular hospital room. The walls were had a soft, almost orange- like yellow color and the floor was made of cozy wood. In front of the windows were green curtains with a sunflower pattern. The room was so happy and warm it almost brought a smile on my face.

Suddenly I a thought crossed my mind. _But… I died, this can't be real, it doesn't make any sense…  
_I had to get out of here. I pulled the needle out of my arm and put off the mask. Breathing by myself hurt my throat a little bit, but I furthermore I felt good. I slowly got out of the bed, and stood up. I noticed I was wearing a white girly night- gown that was absolutely not my style. _What the hell happened to my clothes?  
_I wanted to walk but after barely one step a paralyzing pain shot through my left leg. I swallowed the pain, and moved slowly towards the door, leaning on my right leg as much as possible. When I had finally reached the door pillar I had to stop and rest for a few minutes. It annoyed the hell out of me that moving was so hard. It felt like my mind was trapped in my body.  
Suddenly I heard voices, and I knew I had to act quickly. Well, as quickly as I possibly could in my condition. I crossed the hallway and randomly opened a white door at the right. It led to a stairwell, and didn't know whether to be happy or not with that. It was a good thing because it would probably lead to a way out, but a bad thing because descending would be slow and painful.  
I had no other choice but to half- crawl down the stairs. After what felt like ages, I had reached the bottom of the stairs. There were two creamy white wooden doors, one right in front of me, and one at the left. I chose the one at left, and opened it. To my surprise it led to a place that appeared to be a garden.

I followed a path made of little multicolored brownish bricks pass trees and bushes with blossoming flowers, until I reached a small field of grass. Not for the first the first time that day I started to wonder if I was in heaven or something like that after all.  
When I looked to the right I saw somebody lying in the grass, reading a book. I recognized the person immediately but my senses had to be messing with me, because it couldn't possibly be… "D- dante?"

Dante

"D- dante?"

When I heard the velvet voice that I hadn't heard for such a long time saying my name, I first thought I was hearing voices in my head again. But when I turned my head, and saw Zhalia standing barely a few meters away from me, I knew it was real, though she looked supernaturally beautiful. She looked like an angel, wearing a short white dress, her caramel skin glowing in the sunlight. _  
_  
"Zhalia!"  
In no time I had my arms around her.

"But- but you were dead…" I heard her whisper.

"Almost, but not as close as you… God, I'm so happy you woke up I was- I was afraid you'd never wake up again…"

She moved her head from my shoulder and looked me in the eye. Her eyes were more beautiful, and had even more different shades of brown, than I could remember.  
"Where are we?"

"This is the Foundation hospital, we brought you and Michael here after…

"- After I almost died… yes I think I remember… I almost died but you saved me, right?"

I smiled, and softly wiped the silent tears that were streaming down her face away.  
"It's the least thing I could do after you saved me from Defoe that one day… but even if all of that hadn't happened, I would have still saved you, because…"

"- because you know I would have done the same for you, because I love you." She finished my sentence again.

I couldn't help but smile. "That isn't exactly what I wanted to say… I wanted to say that, even though technically we haven't known each other for a very long time, I love you. I would never let you die and-"

Before I could finish my sentence, she put her arms around my neck and caught my lips in a kiss. First the kiss was soft and gentle, then more and more passionate, but without any rush. Because for the first time there was no need for rushing, there was no threatening danger and no secrets any more. We had all the time of the world.

-  
**Jeej, happy ending! :D  
**  
**I hope it was good enough… I hate ending stories, it's so hard…**

**You know, I actually really wanted to let Zhalia die, but eventually I just couldn't do it xD**

**Anyway, I hope everybody liked it, and the whole story in general of course ^^ Let me know by leaving me one last sweet (or not sweet if I utterly disappointed you with this last chap) review!**

**xoxo**


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